PARIS  WAR  DAYS 


BARNARD 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 


Copyright  by  Harris  &  Ewing,  Washington.  D.  C. 

Myron  T.  Herrick,  American  Ambassador  in  Paris.    Frontispiece. 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 


DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN 


BY 
CHARLES  INMAN  BARNARD,  LL.B.  (HARVARD) 

Knight  of  the  Legion  of  Honor 

Paris  Correspondent  of  The  New  York  Tribune 

President  of  The  Association  of  the  Foreign  Press  in  Paris 

Chairman  of  the  Harvard  Club  of  Paris 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY 
1914 


Copyright,  1914, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 

All  rights  reserved 
Published,  November,  1914 


printers 
8.  J.  PAEKHILL  &  Co.,  BOSTON,  U.S.A. 


TO 

Ogden   MCilh  <%eid 
EDITOR  OP  THE  NEW  YORK  TRIBUNE 

THIS   DIARY   IS  DEDICATED 

IN  AFFECTIONATE  MEMORY   OF 

filS   FATHER,  THE  LATE 

Whitelaw 


O.OQO/1  ^ 


PREFACE 

THIS  is  not  a  story  of  the  world-wide  war.  These 
notes,  jotted  down  at  odd  moments  in  a  diary,  are 
published  with  the  idea  of  recording,  day  by  day, 
the  aspect,  temper,  mood,  and  humor  of  Paris, 
when  the  entire  manhood  of  France  responds  with 
profound  spontaneous  patriotism  to  the  call  of  mo- 
bilization in  defense  of  national  existence.  France 
is  herself  again.  Her  capital,  during  this  supreme 
trial,  is  a  new  Paris,  the  like  of  which,  after  the 
present  crisis  is  over,  will  probably  not  be  seen 
again  by  any  one  now  living. 

As  a  youth  in  the  spring  of  1871,  I  witnessed 
Paris,  partly  in  ruins,  emerging  from  the  scourges 
of  German  invasion  and  of  the  Commune.  As  a 
correspondent  of  the  New  York  Herald,  under  the 
personal  direction  of  my  chief,  Mr.  James  Gordon 
Bennett  —  for  whom  I  retain  a  deep-rooted  friend- 
ship and  admiration  for  his  sterling,  rugged  qualities 
of  a  true  American  and  a  masterly  journalist  —  it 
was  my  good  fortune,  during  fourteen  years,  to  share 
the  joys  and  charms  of  Parisian  life.  I  was  in  Paris 

[vii] 


PREFACE 

during  the  throes  of  the  Dreyfus  affair  when,  at  the 
call  of  the  late  Whitelaw  Reid,  I  began  my  duties  as 
resident  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune.  I 
saw  Paris  suffer  the  winter  floods  of  1910.  Whether 
in  storm  or  in  sunshine,  I  have  always  found  myself 
among  friends  in  this  vivacious  center  of  humanity, 
intelligence,  art,  science,  and  sentiment,  where  our 
countrymen,  and  above  all  our  countrywomen, 
realize  that  they  have  a  second  home.  With  a 
finger  on  the  pulse,  as  it  were,  of  Paris,  I  have 
sought  to  register  the  throbs  and  feelings  of  Paris- 
ians and  Americans  during  these  war  days. 

I  acknowledge  deep  indebtedness  to  the  Euro- 
pean edition  of  the  New  York  Herald,  and  to  the 
Continental  edition  of  the  Daily  Mail,  from  whose 
columns  useful  data  and  information  have  been 
freely  drawn. 

C.   I.   B. 

Paris,  October,  1914. 


[  viii  ] 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Myron  T.  Herrick,  American  Ambassador  in  Paris.  Frontispiece 

PACING  PAGE 

Sewing-girls  at  work  in  the  American  Episcopal  Church  26 
American  Ambulance  Hospital  at  Neuilly  ...  30 
Paris  workmen  hastening  to  join  the  colors  .  .  .38 
Woman  replacing  man  in  traffic  work  ....  42 

General  Victor  Constant  Michel,  Military  Governor  of 

Paris  until  August  27,  1914 48 

The  Statue  of  Strasbourg,  after  the  capture  of  Altkirch 

in  Alsace  by  French  troops        .        .        .  60 

Americans  in  Paris  besieging  the  American  Express  Com- 
pany's office  for  funds  for  their  daily  bread  .  .  66 

French  Negro  troops  from  Africa  entraining  in  Paris        .      84 

Flag  of  the  132nd  German  Infantry  Regiment,  captured 
at  Saint-Blaise  by  the  1st  Battalion  of  Chasseurs  a 
Pied 98 

Robert  Woods  Bliss,  First  Secretary  of  the  United  States 

Embassy  in  Paris,  September,  1914  .        .  .    106 

A  party  of  American  volunteers  crossing  the  Place  de 

1'Opera  in  Paris  on  their  way  to  enlist      .        .        .114 

[ix] 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACHfQ  PAQB 

General  Joseph  Simon  Gallieni,  appointed  Military  Gov- 
ernor and  Commander  of  the  Army  of  Paris,  August 

26,  1914 120 

Etienne  Alexandre  Millerand,  Minister  of  War,  August 

27,  1914     ....  ....    128 

Parisians  watching  the  German  ah*  craft  that  drop  bombs 

on  the  city 138 

Eiffel  Tower's  searchlight  to  reveal  bomb-throwing  air 

craft  and  air  scouts  of  the  Germans  ....    142 

Wounded  French  soldiers  returning  to  Paris  with  trophies 

from  the  battlefields 146 

29th  Infantry  Reserves,  Army  of  the  Defence  of  Paris     .    152 

General  Joffre,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Allied  Armies 

in  France 160 

M.  EmHe  Laurent,  appointed  Prefect  of  Police  of  Paris, 

September  3,  1914 168 

Workmen  erecting  a  barricade  hi  Paris    ....    180 

"  Sauf-Conduit "  issued  by  the  Prefecture  of  Police  to  per- 
sons wishing  to  travel        .        .        .        .  '      .        •    214 

One  of  the  wards  hi  the  American  Ambulance  Hospital  at 

Neuilly 220 


[x] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 


Saturday,  August  1,  1914. 

THIS  war  comes"  like  the  traditional  "  Bolt  from 
the  Blue!  "  I  had  made  arrangements  to  retire 
from  active  journalism  and  relinquish  the  duties  of 
Paris  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune, 
which  I  had  fulfilled  for  sixteen  consecutive  years. 
In  reply  to  a  request  from  Mr.  Ogden  Reid,  I  had 
expressed  willingness  to  remain  at  my  post  in  Paris 
until  the  early  autumn,  inasmuch  as  "  a  quiet 
summer  was  expected."  Spring  was  a  busy  time 
for  newspaper  men.  There  had  been  the  sensational 
assassination  of  Gaston  Calmette,  editor  of]  the 
Figaro,  by  Mme.  Caillaux,  wife  of  the  cabinet  min- 
ister. Then  there  was  the  "  caving-in "  of  the 
streets  of  Paris,  owing  to  the  effect  of  storms  on  the 
thin  surface  left  by  the  underground  tunnelling 
for  the  electric  tramways,  and  for  the  new  metro- 
politan "  tubes."  The  big  prize  fight  between  Jack 
Johnson  and  Frank  Moran  for  the  heavy-weight 

in 


PARIS  WAfe  DAYS 

championship  of  the  world  followed.  Next  came 
the  trial  of  Mme.  Caillaux  and  her  acquittal.  Then 
followed  the  newspaper  campaign  of  the  brothers, 
MM.  Paul  and  Guy  de  Cassagnac,  against  German 
newspaper  correspondents  in  Paris.  The  Cassa- 
gnacs  demanded  that  certain  German  correspond- 
ents should  quit  French  territory  within  twenty- 
four  hours.  As  several  German  correspondents 
were  members  of  the  "  Association  of  the  Foreign 
Press  ",  of  which  I  happen  to  be  president,  I  was 
able  to  smooth  matters  over  a  little.  Although  my 
personal  sympathies  were  strongly  with  the  Cas- 
sagnacs,  who  are  editors  of  ISAutorite,  especially  in 
their  condemnation  of  the  severity  of  the  German 
Government  in  regard  to  "  Hansi ",  the  Alsatian 
caricaturist  and  author  of  M on  Village,  I  managed 
with  the  help  of  some  of  my  Russian,  Italian,  Eng- 
lish, and  Spanish  colleagues  to  avoid  needless  duels 
and  quarrels  between  French  and  German  jour- 
nalists. Finally,  the  day  of  the  "  Grand  Prix  de 
Paris  "  brought  the  news  of  the  murder  at  Sara- 
jevo of  the  heir  to  the  Austro-Hungarian  throne. 
My  friend,  Mr.  Edward  Schuler,  was  despatched  by 
the  Associated  Press  to  Vienna,  and  when  he  re- 
turned, I  readily  saw,  from  the  state  of  feeling  that 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

he  described  as  existing  in  Vienna,  that  war  be- 
tween Austria  and  Servia  was  inevitable,  and  that 
unless  some  supreme  effort  should  be  made  for 
peace  by  Emperor  William,  a  general  European 
war  must  follow. 

Wednesday,  July  29,  the  day  after  Austria's  dec- 
laration of  war  against  Servia,  I  lunched  at  the 
Hotel  Ritz  with  Mrs.  Marshall  Field  and  her 
nephew,  Mr.  Spencer  Eddy.  Mrs.  Field  was  about 
to  leave  Paris  for  Aix-les-Bains.  We  talked  about 
the  probability  of  Russia  being  forced  to  make  war 
with  Germany.  I  warned  Mrs.  Field  of  the  risk 
she  would  run  in  going  to  Aix-les-Bains,  and  in  the 
event  of  mobilization,  of  being  deprived  of  her 
motor-car  and  of  all  means  of  getting  away.  At 
that  time  no  one  seemed  to  think  that  war  really 
would  break  out.  Mrs.  Field  finally  gave  up  her 
plan  of  going  to  Aix-les-Bains  and  went  to  London. 
The  following  evening  Maitre  Charles  Philippe  of 
the  Paris  Bar  and  M.  Max-Lyon,  a  French  railroad 
engineer  who  had  built  many  of  the  Turkish  and 
Servian  railroads,  dined  with  me.  They  both  felt 
that  nothing  could  now  avert  war  between  France 
and  Germany. 

Yesterday  (July  31)  a  sort  of  war  fever  permeated 
[3] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

the  air.  A  cabinet  minister  assured  me  that  at 
whatever  capital  there  was  the  slightest  hope  of 
engaging  in  negotiations  and  compromise,  at  that 
very  point  the  "  mailed  fist "  diplomacy  of  the 
Kaiser  William  dealt  an  unexpected  blow.  There 
seems  no  longer  any  hope  for  peace,  because  it  is 
evident  that  the  Military  Pretorian  Guard,  ad- 
visers to  the  German  and  Austrian  emperors,  are  in 
the  ascendency,  and  they  want  war.  "  Very  well, 
they  will  have  it!  "  remarked  the  veteran  French 
statesman,  M.  Georges  Clemengeau. 

After  dinner  last  evening  I  happened  to  be  near 
the  Cafe  du  Croissant  near  the  Bourse  and  in  the 
heart  of  the  newspaper  quarter  of  Paris.  Sud- 
denly an  excited  crowd  collected.  "  Jaures  has 
been  assassinated!  "  shouted  a  waiter.  The  French 
deputy  and  anti-war  agitator  was  sitting  with  his 
friends  at  a  table  near  an  open  window  in  the  cafe. 
A  young  Frenchman  named  Raoul  Villain,  son  of  a 
clerk  of  the  Civil  Court  of  Rheims,  pushed  a  re- 
volver through  the  window  and  shot  Jaures  through 
the  head.  He  died  a  few  moments  later.  The 
murder  of  the  socialist  leader  would  in  ordinary 
times  have  so  aroused  party  hatred  that  almost 
civil  war  would  have  broken  out  in  Paris.  But  to- 

[4] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

night,  under  the  tremendous  patriotic  pressure  of 
the  German  emperor's  impending  onslaught  upon 
France,  the  whole  nation  is  united  as  one  man.  As 
M.  Arthur  Meyer,  editor  of  the  Gaulois,  remarked: 
"France  is  now  herself  again!  Not  since  a  hun- 
dred years  has  the  world  seen  '  France  DeboutI 9 

At  four  o'clock  this  afternoon  I  was  standing  on 
the  Place  de  la  Bourse  when  the  mobilization  no- 
tices were  posted.  Paris  seemed  electrified.  All 
cabs  were  immediately  taken.  I  walked  to  the 
Place  de  1'Opera  and  Rue  de  la  Paix  to  note  the 
effect  of  the  mobilization  call  upon  the  people. 
Crowds  of  young  men,  with  French  flags,  prom- 
enaded the  streets,  shouting  "Vive  La  France!" 
Bevies  of  young  sewing-girls,  midinettes,  collected 
at  the  open  windows  and  on  the  balconies  of  the 
Rue  de  la  Paix,  cheering,  waving  their  handker- 
chiefs at  the  youthful  patriots,  and  throwing  down 
upon  them  handfuls  of  flowers  and  garlands  that 
had  decked  the  fronts  of  the  shops.  The  crowd 
was  not  particularly  noisy  or  boisterous.  "  No  cries 
of  "  On  to  Berlin!  "  or  "  Down  with  the  Germans!  " 
were  heard.  The  shouts  that  predominated  were 
simply:  "Vive  La  France!"  "Vive  1'Armee! " 
and  "Vive  FAngleterre! "  One  or  two  British 

[5] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

flags  were  also  borne  along  beside  the  French  tri- 
color. 

I  cabled  the  following  message  to  Mr.  Ogden 
Reid,  editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune: 

Tribune,  New  York,  Private  for  Mr.  Reid.  Suggest 
supreme  importance  event  hostilities  of  Brussels  as  center 
of  all  war  news.  Also  that  Harry  Lawson,  Daily  Tele- 
graph, London,  is  open  any  propositions  coming  from  you 
concerning  Tribune  sharing  war  news  service  with  his 
paper.  According  best  military  information  be  useless 
expense  sending  special  men  to  front  with  French  owing 
absolute  rigid  censorship.  BARNARD. 

I  based  this  suggestion  about  the  supreme  im- 
portance of  Brussels  because  it  has  for  years  been 
an  open  secret  among  military  men  that  the  only 
hope  of  the  famous  attaque  brusquee  of  the  German 
armies  being  successful  would  be  by  violating  Bel- 
gian neutrality  and  swarming  in  like  wasps  near 
Liege  and  Namur,  and  surprising  the  French  mo- 
bilization by  sweeping  by  the  lines  of  forts  con- 
structed by  the  foremost  military  engineer  in 
Europe,  the  late  Belgian  general,  De  Brialmont. 

I  subsequently  received  a  cable  message  from 
the  editor  of  the  Tribune  expressing  the  wish  to 
count  upon  my  services  during  the  present  crisis. 
To  this  I  promptly  agreed. 

[6] 


Sunday,  August  2. 

THIS  is  the  first  day  of  mobilization.  I  looked 
out  of  the  dining-room  window  of  my  apartment 
at  Number  8  Rue  Theodule-Ribot  at  four  this 
morning.  Already  the  streets  resounded  with  the 
buzz,  whirl,  and  horns  of  motor-cars  speeding  along 
the  Boulevard  de  Courcelles,  and  the  excited  con- 
versation of  men  and  women  gathered  in  groups  on 
the  sidewalks.  It  was  warm,  rather  cloudy  weather. 
Thermometer,  20  degrees  centigrade,  with  light, 
southwesterly  breezes.  My  servant,  Felicien,  sum- 
moned by  the  mobilization  notices  calling  out  the 
reservists,  was  getting  ready  to  join  his  regiment, 
the  Thirty-second  Dragoons.  His  young  wife  and 
child  had  arrived  the  day  before  from  Brittany. 
My  housekeeper,  Sophie,  who  was  born  in  Baden- 
Baden  and  came  to  Paris  with  her  mother  when  a 
girl  of  eight,  is  in  great  anxiety  lest  she  be  expelled, 
owing  to  her  German  nationality. 

I  walked  to  the  chancellery  of  the  American  Em- 
bassy, Number  5  Rue  de  Chaillot,  where  fifty 
stranded  Americans  were  vainly  asking  the  clerks 

[7] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

how  they  could  get  away  from  Paris  and  how  they 
could  have  their  letters  of  credit  cashed.  Three 
stray  Americans  drove  up  hi  a  one-horse  cab.  I 
took  the  cab,  after  it  had  been  discharged,  and 
went  to  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  where  I 
expected  to  find  our  Ambassador,  Mr.  Myron  T. 
Herrick.  M.  Viviani,  the  President  of  the  Council 
of  Ministers  and  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  was 
there  awaiting  the  arrival  of  Baron  de  Schoen,  the 
German  Ambassador,  who  had  made  an  appoint- 
ment for  eleven  o'clock.  It  was  now  half-past 
eleven,  and  his  German  excellency  had  not  yet 
come. 

I  watched  the  arrival  of  the  St.  Cyr  cadets  at  the 
Gare  d'Orsay  station  on  their  way  to  the  Gare  de 
TEst.  These  young  French  "  West  Pointers  "  are 
sturdy,  active,  wiry  little  chaps,  brimful  of  pluck, 
intelligence,  and  determination.  They  carried  their 
bags  and  boxes  in  their  hands,  and  their  overcoats 
were  neatly  folded  bandeliere  fashion  from  the  right 
shoulder  to  the  left  hip.  Then  came  a  couple  of 
hundred  requisitioned  horses  led  by  cavalrymen. 
Driving  by  the  Invalides,  I  noticed  about  five 
hundred  requisitioned  automobiles.  I  was  very 
much  impressed  by  the  earnest,  grave  determina- 

[81 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

tion  of  the  reservists,  who  were  silently  rejoining 
their  posts.  Some  of  them  were  accompanied  by 
wives,  sisters,  or  sweethearts,  who  concealed  their 
tears  with  forced  smiles.  Now  and  then  groups  of 
young  men  escorted  the  reservists,  singing  the 
"  Marseillaise "  and  waving  French,  British,  and 
Russian  flags.  At  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  near 
the  statue  of  "  Strasbourg  ",  was  a  procession  of 
Italians,  who  had  offered  their  military  services  to 
the  Minister  of  War  in  spite  of  Italy's  obligation 
to  the  Triple  Alliance. 

Later,  at  the  American  Embassy,  Number  5  Rue 
Frangois  Premier,  I  found  Ambassador  Herrick 
arranging  for  a  sort  of  relief  committee  of  Ameri- 
cans to  aid  and  regulate  the  situation  of  our  stranded 
countrymen  and  women  here.  There  are  about 
three  thousand  who  want  to  get  home,  but  who 
are  unable  to  obtain  money  on  their  letters  of 
credit;  if  they  have  money,  they  are  unable  to  find 
trains,  or  passenger  space  on  westward  bound  liners. 
Mr.  Herrick  showed  me  a  cablegram  from  the 
State  Department  at  Washington  instructing  him 
to  remain  at  his  post  until  his  successor,  Mr.  Sharp, 
can  reach  Paris;  also  to  inform  Mr.  Thomas  Nelson 
Page,  American  Ambassador  at  Rome,  to  cancel 

[9] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

his  leave  of  absence  and  stop  in  Rome,  even  if 
"  Italy  had  decided  to  remain  neutral."  As  soon 
as  the  German  and  Austro-Hungarian  ambassadors 
quit  the  capital,  Mr.  Herrick  will  be  placed  in 
charge  of  all  the  German  and  Austro-Hungarian 
subjects  left  behind  here.  I  met  also  M.  J.  J. 
Jusserand,  French  Ambassador  at  Washington, 
who  intends  sailing  Tuesday  for  New  York. 
M.  Jusserand  informed  me  that  official  news  had 
reached  the  Paris  Ministry  of  the  Interior  of  Ger- 
many's violation  of  the  territory  of  Luxemburg,  the 
independence  of  which  had  been  guaranteed  by 
the  Powers,  including  of  course  Prussia,  by  the 
Treaty  of  London  in  1867.  M.  Jusserand  was  very 
indignant  at  this  reckless  breach  of  international 
law. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Herrick,  a  committee 
of  Americans  was  chosen  to  co-operate  with  him  in 
giving  such  information  and  advice  to  Americans 
in  Paris  as  the  efforts  of  the  committee  to  ascertain 
facts  and  conditions  may  justify.  The  committee 
think  there  is  no  cause  for  alarm  on  the  part  of 
those  who  remain  in  the  city  for  the  present;  and 
that  Americans  will  be  able  to  leave  at  some  later 
date,  if  any  desire  to  do  so. 

[10] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

The  committee  will  endeavor  to  learn  what  can 
be  done  in  securing  money  on  letters  of  credit  or 
travelers'  cheques,  or  in  getting  means  of  trans- 
portation to  such  places  as  they  may  desire  to  go. 

The  committee  includes  Messrs.  Laurence  B. 
Benet,  W.  S.  Dalliba,  Charles  Carroll,  Frederick 
Coudert,  James  Deering,  Chauncey  M.  Depew, 
E.  H.  Gary,  H.  Herman  Harjes,  William  Jay,  F.  B. 
Kellog,  Percy  Peixotto,  and  Henry  S.  Priest.  The 
chairman  is  Judge  E.  H.  Gary. 

Mr.  Herrick  asked  me  to  convey  a  private  mes- 
sage to  one  of  his  friends,  but  as  the  telephone 
service  was  interrupted,  Mr.  Laurence  Norton,  the 
Ambassador's  secretary,  loaned  me  his  motor-car 
for  the  purpose.  On  the  Cour  La  Reine  a  proces- 
sion of  young  men  escorting  reservists  and  bearing 
a  French  flag  appeared.  I  naturally  raised  my  hat 
to  salute  the  colors.  The  crowd,  noticing  the  red, 
white,  and  blue  cockades  on  the  hats  of  the  chauf- 
feur and  the  footman,  mistook  me  for  the  American 
Ambassador  or  for  a  cabinet  minister,  and  burst 
into  frantic  cheers. 

In  the  German  quarter,  near  the  Rue  d'Haute- 
ville,  a  couple  of  German  socialists  who  were  so 
imprudent  as  to  shout  "  A  bos  Varmte!  "  were  sur- 

[11] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

rounded  by  angry  Frenchmen,  and  despite  an  at- 
tempt of  the  police  to  protect  them,  were  very 
roughly  handled.  A  German  shoemaker  who  at- 
tempted to  charge  exaggerated  prices  for  boots  had 
his  windows  smashed  and  his  stock  looted  by  an 
infuriated  crowd. 

The  news  that  the  German  shops  were  being  at- 
tacked soon  spread,  and  youths  gathered  in  bands, 
going  from  one  shop  to  the  other  and  wrecking  them 
in  the  course  of  a  few  moments.  Further  riots 
occurred  near  the  Gare  de  1'Est,  a  district  which  is 
inhabited  by  a  large  number  of  Germans.  A  great 
deal  of  damage  was  done. 

Measures  were  taken  at  once  by  the  authorities, 
and  several  cavalry  detachments  were  called  to  the 
aid  of  the  police.  The  youths  were  quite  docile  on 
the  whole,  a  word  from  a  policeman  being  sufficient 
to  turn  them  away. 

The  cavalry,  too,  only  made  a  few  charges  at  a 
sharp  trot  and  were  received  with  hearty  cheers. 
Policemen  and  municipal  guards  were,  however, 
stationed  before  shops  known  to  be  owned  by  Ger- 
mans. 

In  spite  of  this  rioting,  responsible  Parisians  may 
be  said  to  have  remained  as  calm  as  they  have  been 

[12] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

all  through  this  critical  time.  Among  those  taking 
part  in  wrecking  shops  were  few  people  older  than 
seventeen  or  eighteen. 

Already  the  familiar  aspect  of  the  Parisian  street 
crowd  has  changed.  It  is  now  composed  almost 
exclusively  of  men  either  too  young  or  too  old  for 
military  service  and  of  women  and  children.  Most 
of  the  younger  generation  have  already  left  to  join 
corps  on  the  front  or  elsewhere  in  France.  It  is 
impossible  to  spend  more  than  a  few  minutes  in  the 
streets  without  witnessing  scenes  which  speak  of 
war. 

There  are  long  processions  of  vehicles  of  all  sorts, 
market  carts,  two-wheeled  lorries,  furniture  vans, 
all  of  them  stocked  with  rifles  for  the  reserves  and 
all  of  them  led  or  driven  by  soldiers. 

Not  a  motor-omnibus  is  to  be  seen.  The  taxi- 
cabs  and  cabs  are  scarce.  Tramway-cars  are  run- 
ning, although  on  some  lines  the  service  is  reduced 
considerably.  In  spite  of  the  disorganization  of 
traffic,  the  majority  of  Parisians  go  about  their 
business  quietly. 

There  is  deep  confidence  in  the  national  cause. 

'  We  did  not  want  this  war,  but  as  Germany  has 

begun  we  will  fight,  and  Germany  will  find  that 

[13] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

the  heart  of  France  is  in  a  war  for  freedom  ",  is  an 
expression  heard  on  all  sides. 

Everywhere  there  are  touching  scenes.  In  the 
early  hours  of  the  morning  a  chasseur  covered  with 
dust,  who  had  come  to  bid  farewell  to  his  family, 
was  seen  riding  through  the  city.  As  he  rode  down 
the  street,  an  old  woman  stopped  him  and  said: 
"  Do  your  best!  They  killed  my  husband  in  '70. " 
The  young  soldier  stooped  from  his  saddle  and 
silently  gripped  the  old  woman's  hand. 


[14] 


Monday,  August  3. 

THIS  is  the  second  day  of  mobilization.  A  warm, 
cloudy  day  with  occasional  showers.  Thermome- 
ter, 20  degrees  centigrade. 

At  six  this  morning  Felicien,  with  a'  brown  paper 
parcel  containing  a  day's  rations  consisting  of  cold 
roast  beef,  sandwiches,  hard-boiled  eggs,  bread, 
butter,  and  potato  salad,  walked  off  to  the  Gare 
St.  Lazare,  which  is  his  point  of  rendezvous  indi- 
cated by  the  mobilization  paper.  His  young  wife 
wept  as  if  broken-hearted.  Felicien,  like  all  the 
reservists,  restrained  his  emotions.  I  shook  him 
warmly  by  the  hand  and  said  that  I  would  surely 
see  him  again  here  within  six  months,  and  that  he 
would  come  home  a  victor.  "  Don't  be  afraid  of 
that,  sir!  "  was  his  reply,  and  away  he  went. 

I  watched  the  looting  of  the  Maggi  milk  shops 
near  the  Place  des  Ternes.  The  marauders  were 
youths  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  years  old,  and 
seemed  to  have  no  idea  of  the  crimes  they  were 
committing.  The  Maggi  is  no  longer  a  German 
enterprise,  and  the  stupid  acts  of  these  young 

[15] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

ruffians  can  only  have  the  effect  of  depriving  French 
mothers  and  infants  of  much-needed  milk.  I 
bought  a  bicycle  to-day  at  Peugeot's  in  the  Avenue 
of  the  Grande  Armee,  because  it  is  hopeless  to  get 
cabs  or  motor-cabs.  While  there,  the  shop  was 
requisitioned  by  an  officer,  who  took  away  with 
him  three  hundred  bicycles  for  the  army. 

The  aspect  of  the  main  thoroughfares  in  the 
Opera  quarter,  the  center  of  English  and  American 
tourist  traffic,  was  depressing  in  the  extreme  this 
afternoon.  All  the  shipping  offices  in  the  Rue 
Scribe  closed  in  the  morning.  The  Rue  de  la  Paix 
is  never  very  brilliant  in  August,  but  now  it  is  an 
abode  of  desolation.  Nine  tenths"  of  the  shops  have 
then*  shutters  up  and  the  jewelers  who  keep  open 
have  withdrawn  all  their  stock  from  the  windows. 

Many  of  the  closed  shops  on  the  boulevards  and 
elsewhere  bear  placards  designed  to  protect  them 
from  the  possible  attentions  of  the  mob.  On  these 
placards  are  such  texts  as  "  Maison  Franchise  "  or 
even  "  Maison  ultrafrangaise." 

On  the  Cafe  de  la  Paix  is  the  following  announce- 
ment, in  several  places:  "The  proprietor,  Andre 
Millon,  who  is  mayor  of  Evecquemont  (Seine-et- 
Oise),  has  been  called  out  for  service  in  the  army 

116] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

and  left  this  morning."  Similar  messages,  written 
in  chalk,  are  to  be  seen  on  hundreds  of  shutters. 

Steps  have  been  taken  at  the  American  Embassy 
to  supply  credentials,  in  the  form  of  "  a  paper  of 
nationality  ",  to  citizens  of  the  United  States,  which 
will  make  it  possible  for  them  to  register  as  such 
with  the  police,  as  required  by  the  French  Govern- 
ment. 

The  proposed  American  Ambulance  has  been 
organized  under  the  official  patronage  of  Ambassa- 
dor Herrick,  and  the  auspices  of  the  American  Hos- 
pital of  Paris. 

Beginning  to-day,  all  cafes  and  restaurants  will 
be  closed  at  eight  in  the  evening.  They  were  left 
open  till  nine  yesterday  as  an  exceptional  measure, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  there  was  not  time  to  dis- 
tribute the  order  for  early  closing  by  eight  o'clock. 

The  aspect  of  the  boulevards  last  night  was  the 
completest  possible  contrast  to  what  was  seen  on 
Sunday  night.  The  city  was  under  martial  law, 
and  the  police  showed  very  plainly  that  they  did 
not  intend  to  be  trifled  with. 

Instead  of  shouting  crowds  and  stone-throwing 
by  excited  youths  and  women,  one  saw  only  a  few 
citizens  walking  slowly  along.  One  group  of  police- 

[17] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

men  took  shelter  from  the  intermittent  showers 
under  the  marquise  of  the  Vaudeville  Theater,  and 
other  detachments  were  in  readiness  at  corners  all 
along  the  line  of  the  boulevards,  which  were  dotted 
with  isolated  policemen. 

No  one  was  allowed  to  loiter.  To  wait  five 
minutes  outside  a  house  was  to  court  investigation 
and  possibly  arrest.  There  was  no  sound  except 
that  of  footfalls  and  a  low  murmur  of  conversation. 
It  was  the  first  night  of  war's  stern  government. 

Germany  officially  declared  war  upon  France  at 
five  forty-five  this  evening.  The  notification  was 
made  by  Baron  von  Schoen,  the  German  Ambassa- 
dor to  France,  when  he  called  at  the  Ministry  of 
Foreign  Affairs  to  ask  for  his  passports. 

Baron  von  Schoen  declared  that  his  Government 
had  instructed  him  to  inform  the  Government  of  the 
Republic  that  French  aviators  had  flown  over  Bel- 
gium and  that  other  French  aviators  had  flown 
over  Germany  and  dropped  bombs  as  far  as  Nurem- 
berg. He  added  that  this  constituted  an  act  of 
aggression  and  violation  of  German  territory. 

M.  Viviani  listened  in  silence  to  Baron  von 
Schoen's  statement,  and  when  the  German  Am- 
bassador had  finished,  replied  that  it  was  abso- 

[18] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

lutely  false  that  French  aviators  had  flown  over 
Belgium  and  Germany  and  had  dropped  bombs. 

Immediately  after  this  interview,  M.  Viviani  tele- 
graphed to  M.  Jules  Cambon,  French  Ambassador 
in  Berlin,  instructing  him  to  immediately  ask  for 
his  passports  and  to  make  a  report  on  France's 
protest  against  the  violation  of  the  neutrality  of 
Luxemburg  and  the  ultimatum  sent  to  Belgium. 
M.  Cambon  will  leave  Berlin  to-morrow. 

Since  acts  of  war  were  committed  by  German 
troops  two  days  ago,  the  delay  in  the  recall  of  the 
German  Ambassador  had  appeared  inexplicable  to 
the  great  majority  of  French  people,  to  whom  Baron 
von  Schoen  appeared  to  be  decidedly  outstepping  his 
welcome. 

The  Ambassador  himself  seemed  conscious  of  this 
feeling,  for  not  only  did  he  take  care  to  proceed  to 
the  Quai  d'Orsay  in  as  inconspicuous  a  manner  as 
possible,  but  he  also  applied  to  the  authorities  to 
detail  a  policeman  to  accompany  him  in  his  auto- 
mobile. 

Baron  von  Schoen's  departure  from  Paris  was  a 
solemn  affair.  He  left  the  Embassy  last,  after  a  vast 
collection  of  luggage  had  gone  off  in  motor-wagons 
and  other  vehicles.  A  few  minutes  before  ten 

[19] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

o'clock,  wearing  a  soft  felt  hat  and  black  frock  coat 
adorned  with  the  rosette  of  the  Legion  of  Honor 
and  carrying  a  rainproof  coat  over  his  arm,  he  left 
in  a  powerful  automobile,  which,  by  way  of  the 
Invalides,  the  Trocadero,  and  the  Boulevard  Flan- 
drin,  conveyed  him  to  the  station. 

The  station  employes  and  the  police  on  duty  at 
the  station  formed  a  silent  cordon,  through  which 
the  departing  Ambassador  passed  with  downcast 
eyes. 

Not  a  word  was  spoken  as  the  baron  stood  for  a 
few  minutes  on  the  platform. 

Then  the  stationmaster  said  quietly:  "En  voi- 
ture"  there  was  a  shrill  whistle,  and  the  train,  com- 
posed of  five  coaches  and  three  goods  trucks,  glided 
slowly  out  of  the  station. 


[20] 


Tuesday,  August  4- 

WE  are  now  in  the  third  day  of  mobilization. 
Weather  slightly  cooler,  17  degrees  centigrade,  with 
moderate  southwest  wind. 

At  seven  this  morning  I  went  with  Sophie  to  the 
registration  office  for  Germans,  Alsatians,  and 
Austro-Hungarians,  Number  213  Place  Boulevard 
Periere.  A  crowd  of  some  five  hundred  persons  — 
men,  women,  and  children  —  were  waiting  at  the 
doors  of  the  public  schoolroom  now  used  as  the 
Siege  du  District  for  the  seventeenth  arrondissement. 
Although  a  German  by  birth,  Sophie  is  French  at 
heart.  She  came  to  Paris  when  only  eight  years 
old  and  has  remained  here  ever  since  —  she  is  now 
sixty -one  —  and  has  been  thirty-two  years  with  me 
as  housekeeper  and  cook.  All  her  German  relatives 
are  dead.  Hers  is  a  hard  case,  for  if  expelled  from 
France,  she  would  have  to  become  practically  a 
stranger  in  a  strange  land.  Fortunately  she  has  all 
her  papers  in  order,  and  can  show  that  she  has  nine 
nephews  actually  in  the  French  army.  I  made  a 
statement  in  writing  for  her  to  this  effect,  which  she 

[21] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

took  to  the  registration  office,  but  she  had  to  wait, 
standing  without  shelter  from  eight  in  the  morning 
to  six  o'clock  at  night.  After  carefully  scrutinizing 
her  papers,  the  officials  told  her  that  her  papers 
must  go  for  inspection  to  the  Prefecture  of  Police, 
and  that  she  must  come  back  for  them  to-morrow. 
She  had  with  her  photographs  of  three  of  her  neph- 
ews in  military  uniforms.  One  of  these  nephews  had 
received  a  decoration  during  the  Morocco  campaign 
for  saving  his  captain's  life  during  an  engagement. 
I  managed  to  see  the  Commissary  of  Police  of 
the  quarter  and  spoke  to  him  about  Sophie,  ex- 
plaining her  case  and  saying  that  as  she  was  such  a 
splendid  cook  it  would  be  a  great  pity  if  Paris 
should  lose  her  services.  The  commissary  smiled 
and  said:  "It  will  be  all  right.  Sophie  will  be 
allowed  to  remain  in  Paris!  "  I  profited  by  the 
occasion  to  obtain  a  permis  de  sejour,  or  residence 
permit,  for  myself.  The  commissary,  after  noting 
on  paper  my  personal  description  and  measuring 
my  height,  handed  me  the  precious  document 
authorizing  me  to  reside  in  the  "  entrenched  camp 
of  Paris."  These  papers  must  be  kept  on  one's 
person,  ready  to  be  shown  whenever  called  for. 
Outside  of  the  office  about  three  hundred  foreigners, 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

including  Emile  Wauters,  the  Belgian  painter,  and 
several  well-known  Americans  and  English,  were 
waiting  their  turn  to  get  into  the  office.  I  con- 
gratulated myself  on  having  a  journalist's  coupe-file 
card  that  had  enabled  me  to  get  in  before  the  others, 
some  of  whom  stood  waiting  for  six  hours  before 
their  turn  came.  This  is  an  instance  of  stupid 
French  bureaucracy  or  red-tapism.  It  would  have 
been  very  easy  to  have  distributed  numbers  to  those 
waiting,  and  the  applicants  would  then  have  been 
able,  by  calculating  the  time,  to  go  about  their 
business  and  return  when  necessary.  Another  in- 
stance of  this  fatal  red-tapism  of  French  officialdom 
came  in  the  shape  of  a  summons  from  the  fiscal  office 
of  Vernon,  where  I  have  a  little  country  place  on 
the  Seine,  to  pay  the  sum  of  two  francs,  which  is 
the  annual  tax  for  a  float  I  had  there  for  boating 
purposes.  This  trivial  paper,  coming  in  amidst 
the  whirlpool  of  mobilization,  displays  the  men- 
tality of  the  provincial  officials. 

After  doing  some  writing,  I  went  on  my  new 
bicycle  to  the  chancellery  of  the  United  States 
Embassy  and  saw  a  crowd  of  about  seventy  Ameri- 
cans on  the  sidewalk  awaiting  their  turn  to  obtain 
identification  papers.  I  met  here  Mr.  Bernard  J. 

1*3] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Schoninger,  former  president  of  the  American  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  in  Paris.  The  news  of  the  out- 
break of  war  found  him  at  Luchon  in  the  Pyrenees. 
All  train  service  being  monopolized  for  the  troops, 
he  came  in  his  automobile  to  Paris,  a  distance  of 
about  a  thousand  kilometers.  All  went  smoothly 
until  he  reached  Tours,  when  he  was  held  up  at 
every  five  kilometers  by  guards  who  demanded  his 
papers.  Chains  or  ropes  were  often  stretched  across 
the  roads.  Mr.  Schoninger  showed  the  guards  his 
visiting  card,  explained  who  he  was,  and  said  that 
he  was  going  to  Paris  on  purpose  to  get  his  papers. 
The  authorities  were  very  civil,  as  they  usually  are 
to  all  Americans  who  approach  them  politely,  and 
allowed  him  to  motor  to  Neuilly,  just  outside  the 
fortifications  of  Paris. 

I  proceeded  on  my  wheel  to  the  Embassy,  where 
I  found  our  Ambassador  very  busy  with  the  Ameri- 
can Relief  Committee  and  with  the  American  Am- 
bulance people. 

Several  Americans  at  the  Embassy  were  making 
impractical  requests,  as  for  instance  that  the  Ameri- 
can Ambassador  demand  that  the  French  Govern- 
ment accept  the  passports  or  identification  papers 
issued  by  the  American  Embassy  here  in  lieu  of 

[24] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

permis  de  sSjour.  If  the  French  Government 
accorded  this  favor  to  the  United  States,  all  the 
other  neutral  nations  would  require  the  same  priv- 
ilege, and  thus  in  time  of  war,  with  fighting  going 
on  only  a  little  over  two  hundred  kilometers  from 
Paris,  the  French  Government  would  lose  direct 
control  of  permission  for  foreigners  to  remain  in  the 
capital. 

It  is  estimated  that  there  are  over  forty  thousand 
Americans  at  present  stranded  in  Europe,  seventy- 
five  hundred  of  them  being  in  Paris.  Of  these 
fifteen  hundred  are  without  present  means. 

The  Embassy  is  literally  besieged  by  hundreds 
of  these  unfortunate  travelers.  There  were  so 
many  of  them,  and  their  demands  were  so  urgent, 
that  the  Military  Attache,  Major  Spencer  Cosby, 
had  to  utilize  the  services  of  eight  American  army 
officers  on  leave  to  form  a  sort  of  guard  to  control 
their  compatriots.  These  officers  were  Major  Mor- 
ton John  Henry,  Captain  Frank  Parker,  Captain 
Francis  H.  Pope,  Lieutenants  B.  B.  Summerwell, 
F.  W.  Honeycutt,  Joseph  B.  Treat,  J.  H.  Jouett, 
and  H.  F.  Loomis.  The  last  four  are  young 
graduates  of  West  Point,  the  others  being  on  the 
active  list  of  the  United  States  army. 

[25] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Ambassador  Herrick  set  his  face  against  any 
favoritism  in  receiving  the  applicants,  and  some 
very  prominent  citizens  had  to  stand  in  line  for 
hours  before  they  could  be  admitted.  Mr.  Oscar 
Underwood,  son  of  Senator-elect  Underwood,  is  or- 
ganizing means  to  alleviate  the  distress  among  his 
countrymen  and  countrywomen  in  Paris.  He  has 
also  asked  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  extend 
the  time  allowed  for  Americans  to  obtain  formal 
permission  to  remain  in  France,  and  his  request  will 
no  doubt  be  granted. 

Doctor  Watson,  rector  of  the  American  Church  of 
the  Holy  Trinity,  in  the  Avenue  de  TAlma,  has 
offered  that  building  as  temporary  sleeping  quar- 
ters for  Americans  who  are  unable  to  obtain  shelter 
elsewhere,  and  is  arranging  to  hold  some  trained 
nurses  at  the  disposal  of  the  feeble  and  sick. 

War  is  a  wonderful  leveler,  but  there  could 
hardly  be  a  greater  piece  of  irony  perpetrated  by 
Fate  than  compelling  well-to-do  Americans,  who 
have  no  share  in  the  quarrel  on  hand,  to  sleep  in  a 
church  in  France  like  destitutes  before  any  of  the 
French  themselves  are  called  upon  to  undergo  such 
an  experience. 

At  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  I  witnessed  a  his- 
[261 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

toric  scene  never  to  be  forgotten.  Some  of  the 
deputies  were  reservists  and  had  come  in  their 
uniforms,  but  the  rules  prevented  them  from  taking 
their  seats  in  military  attire.  In  the  Diplomatic 
Tribune  sat  Sir  Francis  Bertie,  the  British  Ambas- 
sador, side  by  side  with  M.  Alexander  Iswolsky, 
the  Russian  Ambassador.  The  Chamber  filled  in 
complete  silence.  The  whole  House,  from  royalists 
to  socialists,  listened,  standing,  to  a  glowing  tribute 
by  M.  Paul  Deschanel,  president  of  the  Chamber, 
to  M.  Jaures,  over  whose  coffin,  he  said,  the  whole 
of  France  was  united.  "  There  are  no  more  adver- 
saries", exclaimed  M.  Deschanel,  with  a  voice 
trembling  with  emotion,  "  there  are  only  French- 
men." The  whole  house  as  one  man  raised  a  re- 
sounding shout  of  "  Vive  la  France!  " 

When  M.  Deschanel  concluded,  there  was  a 
pause  during  the  absence  of  M.  Viviani.  The 
Premier  entered,  pale  but  confident,  amid  a  hurri- 
cane of  cheers  and  read  amid  a  silence  broken  only 
by  frenzied  shouts  of  "Vive  la  France!  "  a  speech 
detailing  the  whole  course  of  the  diplomatic  nego- 
tiations, in  which  he  placed  upon  Germany  crush- 
ing responsibility  for  the  catastrophe  which  has 
overtaken  Europe. 

[27] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

The  Chamber,  before  rising,  adopted  unanimously 
without  discussion  a  whole  series  of  bills  making 
provision  for  national  defense  and  the  maintenance 
of  order  in  France. 

M.  Viviani's  speech  was  interrupted  by  terrific 
cheering  when  he  referred  to  the  attitude  adopted 
by  the  British  and  Belgian  governments.  All  rose 
to  face  the  diplomatic  tribune,  cheering  again  and 
again. 

M.  Viviani's  last  phrase,  "  We  are  without  re- 
proach. We  shall  be  without  fear ",  swept  the 
whole  Chamber  off  its  feet. 

The  vast  hemicycle  was  a  compact  mass  of  cheer- 
ing deputies,  all  waving  aloft  in  their  hands  papers 
and  handkerchiefs.  From  the  tribunes  of  the  public 
gallery  shout  after  shout  went  up.  At  the  foot  of 
the  presidential  platform  the  gray-haired  usher, 
with  his  1870  war  medals  on  his  breasts,  was  seated, 
overcome  with  emotion,  the  tears  coursing  down  his 
cheeks. 

Paris  is  back  in  the  days  of  the  curfew,  and  at 
eight  o'clock,  by  order  of  the  Military  Governor  of 
Paris,  it  is  "  lights  out  "  on  the  boulevards,  all  the 
cafes  close  their  doors,  the  underground  railway 
ceases  running,  and  policemen  and  sentinels  chal- 

[28] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

lenge  any  one  going  home  late,  lest  he  should  be  a 
German  spy.  Paris  is  no  longer  "  la  ville  lumiere  " 
it  is  a  sad  and  gloomy  city,  where  men  and  women 
go  about  with  solemn,  anxious  faces,  and  every 
conversation  seems  to  begin  and  end  with  the  dread- 
ful word  "  War !" 

There  is  no  more  rioting  in  the  streets.  The 
bands  of  young  blackguards  who  went  about  pil- 
laging the  shops  of  inoffensive  citizens  have  been 
cleared  from  the  streets,  and  demonstrations  of 
every  kind  are  strictly  forbidden.  So  far  is  this 
carried  that  a  cab  was  stopped  at  the  Madeleine, 
and  a  policeman  ordered  the  cab  driver  to  take  the 
little  French  flag  out  of  the  horse's  collar. 

In  the  evening  the  city  is  wrapped  in  a  silence 
which  makes  it  difficult  to  realize  that  one  is  in  the 
capital  of  a  great  commercial  center.  The  smallest 
of  provincial  villages  would  seem  lively  compared 
with  the  boulevards  last  night.  But  for  large  num- 
bers of  policemen  and  occasional  military  patrols, 
the  streets  were  practically  deserted. 

There  is,  however,  nothing  for  the  police  to  do, 
for  the  sternly  worded  announcement  that  dis- 
turbers of  the  peace  would  be  court-martialed  had 
the  instant  effect  of  putting  a  stop  to  any  noisy 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

demonstrations,  let  alone  any  attempts  at  pillage. 
Policemen  can  be  seen  sitting  about  on  doorsteps 
or  leaning  against  trees. 

Parisians  are  already  going  through  a  small  re- 
vival of  what  they  did  during  the  siege  of  1871. 
They  are  lining  up  at  regular  hours  outside  pro- 
vision shops  and  waiting  their  turn  to  be  served. 
Many  large  groceries  are  open  only  from  nine  to 
eleven  in  the  morning  and  from  three  to  five  in  the 
afternoon,  not  because  there  is  any  scarcity  of  food, 
but  on  account  of  lack  of  assistants,  all  their  young 
men  being  at  the  front  or  on  their  way  there. 

Great  activity  is  already  being  shown  in  preparing 
to  receive  wounded  soldiers  from  the  front,  and  all 
the  ambulance  and  nursing  societies  are  working 
hand  in  hand. 

The  women  of  Paris  are  being  enrolled  in  special 
schools  where  they  will  be  taught  the  art  of  nursing, 
and  thousands  of  young  women  and  girls  in  the 
provinces  have  promised  to  help  their  country  by 
making  uniforms  and  bandages.  Others  will  look 
after  the  children  of  widowers  who  have  gone  to 
the  front,  and  in  various  other  ways  the  women  of 
France  are  justifying  their  reputation  for  cheerful 
self-abnegation. 

[301 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

The  Medical  Board  of  the  American  Hospital  held 
another  meeting  at  the  hospital  in  Neuilly,  to  con- 
sider further  the  organization  of  the  hospital  for 
wounded  soldiers,  with  an  ambulance  service,  which 
it  is  proposed  to  offer  as  an  American  contribution 
to  France  in  her  hour  of  trouble. 

Just  how  extensive  this  medical  service  will  be 
depends  upon  the  amount  of  money  that  will  be 
obtained  from  Americans.  The  enterprise  was  given 
its  first  impulse  at  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Gov- 
ernors and  the  Medical  Board  of  the  American 
Hospital  held  on  Monday  at  the  request  of  Am- 
bassador Herrick. 

It  is  intended  to  establish  at  first  a  hospital  of 
one  hundred  or  two  hundred  beds,  fully  equipped 
to  care  for  wounded  French  soldiers.  Several  places 
are  under  consideration,  but  at  present  no  infor- 
mation of  a  definite  character  can  be  given  on  this 
subject.  Later,  if  Americans  are  sufficiently  gener- 
ous in  their  contributions,  it  is  proposed  to  obtain 
from  the  French  Government  the  use  of  the  Lycee 
Pasteur  in  Neuilly,  not  far  from  the  American 
Hospital.  In  this  building  a~thousand  beds  could  be 
placed,  and  it  is  hoped  that  funds  will  be  available 
to  undertake  this  larger  ambulance  service. 

[31] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Meanwhile  the  American  Hospital  at  Neuilly  is 
not  to  be  affected  in  any  way  by  this  emergency 
undertaking,  but  it  will  continue  its  work  for  Ameri- 
cans in  need  of  medical  attention.  The  special 
hospital  for  soldiers  is  to  be  an  American  offering 
under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Hospital  and 
under  the  direction  of  the  Medical  Board  of  that 
institution. 

The  Medical  Board  of  the  American  Hospital 
consists  of  Doctor  Robert  Turner,  chairman;  Doc- 
tor Magnier,  who  is  well  known  as  the  founder  of 
the  hospital;  Doctor  Debuchet,  Doctor  Gros,  Doc- 
tor Koenig  and  Doctor  Whitman. 

Mrs.  Herrick,  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  Mrs.  Charles 
Carroll,  and  other  prominent  American  women  have 
applied  for  service  with  the  Red  Cross. 


[32] 


Wednesday,  August  5. 

FOURTH  day  of  mobilization.  Cloudy  weather 
with  southwesterly  wind,  temperature  at  five  p.  M. 
21  degrees  centigrade. 

Looking  out  of  the  window  this  morning  I  no- 
ticed British  flags  waving  beside  French  flags  on 
several  balconies  and  shops.  England's  declaration 
of  war  against  Germany  arouses  tremendous  en- 
thusiasm. The  heroic  defense  made  by  the  Bel- 
gians against  three  German  army  corps  advancing 
on  the  almost  impregnable  fortress  of  Liege  —  a 
second  Port  Arthur  —  is  a  magnificent  encourage- 
ment for  the  French.  At  some  of  the  houses  in 
Paris  one  now  sees  occasionally  assembled  the  flags 
of  France,  Russia,  Great  Britain,  Belgium,  and 
Servia. 

Paris  is  beginning  to  settle  down  more  or  less  to 
the  abnormal  state  of  things  prevailing  in  the  city 
since  the  departure  of  the  reservists.  Those  who 
remain  behind  are  showing  an  admirable  spirit. 
Nowhere  are  complaints  voiced  in  regard  to  the 
complete  disorganization  of  the  public  services. 

[33] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

M.  Hennion,  chief  of  police,  has  devised  an  excel- 
lent means  of  clearing  the  streets  of  dangerous  in- 
dividuals. He  has  arranged  for  half  a  dozen  auto- 
busses  containing  a  dozen  policemen  to  circulate 
in  the  different  quarters  at  night.  The  auto-busses 
stop  now  and  then,  and  the  police  make  a  silent 
search  for  marauders.  Any  one  found  with  a  re- 
volver or  a  knife  is  arrested,  put  in  handcuffs,  and 
placed  in  the  auto-bus  and  carried  to  the  police 
station. 

Sophie  at  last  got  her  permis  de  sejour  this  eve- 
ning. The  expelled  Germans  will  be  sent  to  a  remote 
station  near  the  Spanish  frontier.  The  undesirable 
Austro-Hungarians  will  be  relegated  to  Brittany, 
where  perhaps  they  may  be  utilized  in  harvesting 
the  wheat  crop.  Germans  in  the  domestic  service 
of  French  citizens  are  allowed  to  remain  in 
Paris. 

The  French  Institute  is  participating  in  the 
campaign  reservist  mobilization.  M.  Etienne  Lamy, 
Perpetual  Secretary  of  the  French  Academy,  is  a 
major  in  the  territorial  army  and  is  about  to  take 
the  field.  M.  Pierre  Loti,  who  is  a  captain  in  the 
navy,  will  be  provided  with  a  suitable  command. 
M.  Marcel  Prevost,  graduate  of  the  Polytechnic 

F341 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

School,  is  a  major  of  artillery,  and  will  command  a 
battery  in  one  of  the  forts  near  Paris. 

Among  American  ladies  added  to  the  list  of  those 
who  have  volunteered  for  service  with  the  Red 
Cross  are  Mrs.  Gary,  Mrs.  E.  Tuck,  Mrs.  Hickox, 
Mrs.  George  Munroe,  Mrs.  Smith,  Mrs.  Bell,  Mrs. 
French,  Mrs.  G.  Gray,  Mrs.  Gurnee,  Mrs.  Burden, 
Mrs.  Harjes,  Mrs.  Bennett,  Mrs.  Dalliba,  Mrs. 
Burnell,  Mrs.  Farwell,  Mrs.  Blumenthal,  Mrs. 
Moore,  Mrs.  Walter  Gay,  Mrs.  Tiffany,  Mrs.  Allan, 
Miss  Gillett,  and  Miss  Gurnee. 

A  number  of  American  and  English-speaking 
physicians  and  surgeons  responded  to  the  appeal 
made  by  Doctor  J.  M.  Gershberg,  of  New  York, 
visiting  physician  to  the  Hopital  Broca,  and  at- 
tended a  meeting  held  at  Professor  Pozzi's  dispen- 
sary to  form  an  organization  offering  their  medical 
and  surgical  services  to  the  French  Government  and 
the  Red  Cross  Society. 

Doctor  Gershberg  explained  that  the  plan  is  to 
form  three  bodies:  a  body  of  English-speaking 
physicians  and  surgeons,  a  body  of  English-speaking 
nurses,  and  a  body  of  English-speaking  attendants. 

The  proprietor  of  the  Hotel  Chatham,  a  reserve 
officer  in  the  artillery,  and  M.  C.  Michaut,  ex- 

[35] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

reserve  officer  of  artillery,  have  decided  to  place  the 
establishment  at  the  disposal  of  the  Red  Cross  So- 
ciety for  the  reception  of  wounded  soldiers. 

Americans  arriving  in  Paris  from  Germany  and 
Switzerland  continue  to  bring  stories  of  hardships 
inflicted  on  them  by  the  sudden  outbreak  of  war. 
Mr.  T.  C.  Estee,  of  New  York,  who  reached  Paris 
with  his  family,  reported  that  he  left  behind  at 
Zurich  two  hundred  Americans  who  apparently  had 
no  means  of  getting  away. 

He  and  his  family  were  lucky  enough  to  catch  the 
last  train  conveying  troops  westward.  They  trav- 
eled for  two  days  without  food  or  water,  one  of  the 
ladies  fainting  from  exhaustion,  and  after  the  train 
reached  its  destination  they  had  to  walk  several 
miles  across  the  frontier,  where  they  were  taken  on 
board  a  French  troop  train.  They  lost  all  their 
baggage. 

Eight  other  Americans  reported  a  similar  expe- 
rience. They  had  a  tramp  of  ten  miles  into  France, 
and  one  of  their  number,  a  lady  partly  paralyzed, 
had  to  be  carried.  They  could  procure  no  food 
until  they  reached  France.  Finally  they  obtained  a 
motor-car  which  brought  them  to  Paris.  This 
memorable  journey  began  at  Dresden. 

[361 


Thursday,  August  6. 

FIFTH  day  of  mobilization.  Cloudy  in  the  morn- 
ing, fair  in  the  afternoon.  Thermometer  at  five 
p.  M.  17  degrees  centigrade. 

Our  Ambassador,  Mr.  Herrick,  whom  I  saw  in 
the  afternoon,  is  delighted  with  the  progress  being 
made  with  the  American  Hospital  for  the  French 
wounded.  Mrs.  Herrick  is  getting  on  famously 
with  her  organization  of  the  woman's  committee  of 
the  American  Ambulance  of  Paris,  which  is  to  be 
offered  to  the  French  Military  Government  for  the 
aid  of  wounded  soldiers. 

Mrs.  Herrick  was  elected  president  of  the  com- 
mittee, Mrs.  Potter  Palmer  vice-president,  Mrs. 
H.  Herman  Harjes  treasurer,  and  Mrs.  Laurence 
V.  Benet  secretary.  An  executive  committee  was 
then  elected,  consisting  of  Mrs.  Laurence  V.  Benet, 
Mrs.  H.  Herman  Harjes,  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  Mrs. 
Carroll  of  Carrollton,  and  Mrs.  George  Munroe. 

Among  the  women  present  at  the  meeting,  in 
addition  to  those  already  named,  were:  Mrs.  Elbert 
H.  Gary,  Mrs.  William  Jay,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Thackara, 

[37] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Mrs.  James  Henry  Smith,  Mrs.  J.  Burden,  Mrs. 
Dalliba,  Mrs.  Blumenthal,  Mrs.  Walter  Gay,  Mrs. 
Tuck,  Mrs.  Charles  Barney,  Mrs.  Whitney  Warren, 
Mrs.  Philip  Lydig,  Mrs.  Hickox,  Mrs.  F.  Bell,  Mrs. 
French,  Mrs.  Frederick  Allen,  Mrs.  Farwell,  Miss 
Edyth  Deacon,  Mrs.  Cameron,  Mrs.  William 
Crocker,  Mrs.  Herman  B.  Duryea,  Mrs.  Roche, 
Miss  Hallmark,  Mrs.  Robert  Bliss,  Mrs.  Crosby, 
Mrs.  Webb,  Mrs.  Howe,  Miss  Allien,  Mrs.  Carolan 
and  Mrs.  Marcou. 

At  the  Embassy,  I  met  Colonel  William  Jay, 
whom  I  had  known  as  a  boy  when  he  was  aide-de- 
camp to  General  Meade,  then  in  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  We  talked  about  the  pros- 
pects of  the  war  and  especially  of  the  Belgians' 
superb  defense  at  Liege  and  also  discussed  the  re- 
port that  a  British  force  had  been  transported  to 
Havre.  I  called  at  the  Ministry  of  War  this  morn- 
ing, and  Colonel  Commandant  Duval,  chief  of  the 
press  bureau  there,  gave  me  a  laisser-passer  to  enter 
the  Ministry  three  times  a  day:  ten  in  the  morning, 
three  in  the  afternoon,  and  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night 
to  get  the  official  news  communicated  by  the  War 
Department  to  the  newspapers.  It  is  odd  to  notice 
the  martial  aspect  of  the  doorkeepers  and  ushers 

138] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

at  the  War  Office.  Their  moustaches  have  become 
longer  and  fiercer,  and  their  replies  to  most  trivial 
questions  are  pronounced  with  an  air  of  impressive 
mystery.  At  the  War  Office,  I  met  M.  Louis  Bar- 
thou,  former  prime  minister,  who  expressed  genuine 
enthusiasm  at  the  heroic  fighting  of  the  Belgians. 
I  afterwards  went  to  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Af- 
fairs to  see  about  having  my  coupe-file,  or  special 
pass,  vised  with  a  laisser-passer  label.  This  can 
only  be  obtained  at  the  Prefecture  of  Police  upon 
the  special  authorization  of  the  Foreign  Office.  I 
was  told  that  although  a  few  such  permits  had  been 
granted,  no  decision  will  be  taken  in  the  matter 
before  Saturday. 

M.  Jusserand,  French  Ambassador  at  Washing- 
ton, together  with  his  wife,  made  a  vain  attempt  a 
few  days  ago  to  reach  Havre  in  time  to  catch  the 
France,  which  sailed  before  her  schedule  time  —  a 
precautionary  measure,  taken,  it  is  said,  to  elude  Ger- 
man cruisers.  M.  and  Mme.  Jusserand  consequently 
failed  to  catch  the  liner  and  returned  to  Paris. 

Much  to  my  surprise,  Felicien,  my  servant, 
turned  up  at  six  p.  M.,  having  obtained  leave  from 
the  reserve  squadron  of  his  regiment,  the  Thirty-sec- 
ond Dragoons  at  Versailles,  to  visit  his  wife  in  Paris. 

[39] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

The  active  squadrons  of  his  regiment  are  at  Cha- 
lons. The  married  reservists  are  held  back  until 
the  others  have  gone  to  the  front.  This  system  is 
likely  to  be  an  economical  one,  for  all  the  widows 
of  soldiers  killed  in  the  war  will  have  fairly  good 
pensions. 

There  is  probably  no  more  forlorn  street  in  Paris 
at  the  present  moment  than  the  Rue  de  la  Paix, 
the  headquarters  for  dressmakers  and  milliners. 
Upwards  of  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  shops  are 
closed,  and  on  both  sides  the  street  presents  a  long, 
gray  expanse  —  broken  only  at  intervals  —  of  for- 
bidding iron  shutters. 

It  is  not  here,  however,  that  one  must  look  for  the 
effect  of  the  war  on  American  business,  but  rather 
along  the  Avenue  de  POpera,  the  Grand  Boule- 
vards, and  other  well-known  business  streets. 

In  the  Avenue  de  POpera,  at  the  intersection  of 
the  Rue  Louis-le-Grand,  the  Paris  shop  of  the 
Singer  Sewing  Machine  Company  is  closed,  while 
on  the  other  side  Hanan's  boot  and  shoe  store  is 
also  shut.  Just  off  the  avenue,  where  the  Rue  des 
Pyramides  cuts  in,  the  establishment  where  the 
Colgate  and  the  Chesebrough  companies  exploit 
their  products  likewise  presents  barred  doors. 

[40] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Two  conspicuous  American  establishments  re- 
maining open  in  the  Avenue  de  1'Opera  are  the 
Butterick  shop  and  Brentano's. 

Mr.  Lewis  J.  Ford,  manager  of  Brentano's,  said 
that  they  had  lost  a  quarter  of  their  employes  and 
fifty  per  cent,  of  their  trade  by  reason  of  the  war, 
but  proposed  to  keep  open  just  the  same. 

In  the  Grand  Boulevards  the  Remington  type- 
writer headquarters  are  closed,  as  is  the  Spalding 
shop  for  athletic  supplies;  but  the  establishments 
of  the  Walkover  Shoe  Company,  both  on  the  Boule- 
vard des  Capucines  and  the  Boulevard  des  Italiens, 
are  open. 

In  spite  of  the  hardship  entailed  upon  American 
firms,  they  are  far  from  complaining.  On  the  con- 
trary, there  is  a  concerted  movement  among  Ameri- 
can business  men  at  this  time  to  assist  the  French 
in  keeping  the  industrial  life  of  Paris  going  as  nor- 
mally as  possible  during  the  war. 

At  night  Paris  is  still  dark  and  silent,  but  in  the 
daytime  the  city  is  beginning  to  adapt  itself  to  the 
new  state  of  things.  Many  places  from  which  the 
men  have  been  called  away  to  serve  their,  country 
are  being  filled  by  women. 

Women  are  becoming  tramway  conductors,  and 
[411 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

there  is  talk  of  their  working  the  underground  rail- 
way. Girl  clerks  are  taking  places  in  government 
and  other  offices. 

The  unusual  state  of  things  prevailing  in  Paris  is 
the  cause  of  many  picturesque  scenes.  This  morn- 
ing there  was  an  unwonted  sight  of  a  hundred 
cows  being  driven  by  herdsmen  of  rustic  appearance 
along  the  Boulevard  des  Capucines.  A  little  further 
on,  the  eye  was  arrested  by  a  brilliant  mass  of  red 
and  blue  on  the  steps  of  the  Madeleine,  where  a 
number  of  men  of  the  Second  Cuirassiers  were  at- 
tending special  mass. 

The  cheerful  tone  which  prevails  among  the 
people  in  the  street  is  very  noticeable.  All  faces  are 
smiling  and  give  the  impression  of  a  holiday  crowd 
out  enjoying  themselves  at  the  national  fete,  an 
impression  which  is  reinforced  by  the  gay  display 
of  bunting  in  most  of  the  streets  in  the  center  of 
Paris. 

A  remarkable  sight  is  the  Rue  du  Croissant  hi  the 
afternoon,  at  the  tune  when  the  evening  newspapers 
are  printed.  The  unusual  number  of  papers  sold 
in  the  streets  has  brought  thousands  of  boys,  girls, 
women,  and  old  men  from  the  outlying  districts  of 
the  city. 

[42] 


Photo,  by  Paul  Thompson. 

Woman  replacing  man  in  traffic  work. 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

There  are  thousands  of  them  eagerly  awaiting 
the  appearance  of  the  Presse,  Intransigeant,  and 
other  papers.  The  narrow,  picturesque  old  street 
is  one  seething  mass  of  human  beings.  Hundreds 
also  wait  in  the  Rue  Montmartre.  As  they  wait, 
they  pass  the  time  by  playing  cards  or  dice. 

Many  industries  are  severely  affected  owing  to 
the  absence  of  men.  One  of  them  is  the  laundry 
industry,  which  is  unable  to  deliver  washing,  owing 
to  the  want  of  vehicles  and  drivers.  In  conse- 
quence, many  Parisians  have  now  adopted  the 
soft  collar.  No  one  at  this  hour  pays  attention  to 
questions  of  toilette  or  personal  elegance. 

However,  no  one  dreams  of  complaining  of  lack 
of  comfort.  All  want  to  do  their  best  to  help  the 
national  cause  in  any  way  they  can.  The  warmth 
of  patriotic  feeling  is  magnificent. 

Already  it  is  proposed  to  name  streets  in  Paris 
after  Samain,  the  young  Alsatian  reported  shot  in 
Metz  for  French  sympathies,  and  after  the  cure  of 
the  frontier  village  who  was  murdered  by  German 
soldiers  because  he  rang  his  church  bells  to  give  the 
alarm  of  their  approach.  Never  did  a  nation  rise 
to  repel  attack  with  a  deeper  resentment  or  a  more 
vigorous  6lan. 

[43] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

One  effect  of  the  war  has  been  to  anathematize 
the  name  of  Germany.  The  Villette  district, 
through  its  local  representatives,  has  presented  a 
petition  to  the  City  Council  praying  that  the  name 
Rue  d'Allemagne  shall  be  changed  to  that  of  Rue 
Jean  Jaures,  in  honor  of  the  assassinated  socialist 
leader. 

Scenes  of  extraordinary  enthusiasm  marked  the 
departure  of  the  Fifth  Regiment  of  Line  from 
the  Pepiniere  barracks  to-day.  Long  before  six 
o'clock,  the  appointed  hour  of  departure,  the  Avenue 
Portalis  and  the  steps  of  the  Church  of  Saint- 
Philippe  du  Roule  were  black  with  people. 

At  six  o'clock  the  bugles  sounded,  the  iron  gates 
opened,  and  the  regiment,  with  fixed  bayonets, 
swung  out  into  the  road  amid  ringing  cheers  and 
shouts  of  "  Vive  la  France!  "  As  the  standard- 
bearer  passed,  the  cheer  increased  in  volume,  and 
men  stood  with  bared  heads  and  waved  their  hats 
in  the  air.  The  regiment  entrained  last  night  for 
the  Belgian  frontier. 


[44] 


Friday,  August  7. 

THIS  is  the  sixth  day  of  mobilization.  Steady 
rain  during  the  morning.  Temperature  at  five  P.  M. 
16  degrees  centigrade. 

Disembarking  of  British  troops  in  France  has 
begun,  and  the  greatest  enthusiasm  is  reported  from 
the  northern  departments.  I  went  to  see  the  Due 
de  Loubat  this  morning  and  met  there  Mr.  De 
Courcey  Forbes,  who  told  me  that  the  French  mo- 
bilization was  working  like  clock-work  two  days 
ahead  of  scheduled  time.  He  said  that  about  a 
hundred  Germans  and  Austrians  had  been  arrested 
as  spies.  They  were  tried  by  court  martial  at 
eleven  o'clock  yesterday  morning,  and  fifty-nine  of 
them,  who  were  found  guilty,  were  shot  at  Vin- 
cennes  at  four  o'clock  the  same  afternoon. 

It  subsequently  turned  out  that  these  spies  had 
not  been  shot,  after  all,  but  had  been  imprisoned 
and  kept  in  close  confinement. 

When  Baron  Shoen  left  the  German  Embassy  in 
Paris,  he  was  treated  with  great  courtesy  and  es- 
corted by  the  Chef  de  Protocol,  M.  William  Martin, 

145] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

to  the  railway  station,  where  he  was  provided  with  a 
special  train  de  luxe  with  a  restaurant  car.  Upon 
the  arrival  at  the  frontier,  the  Germans  actually 
seized  and  confiscated  the  train!  Reports  of  French 
families  returning  from  Germany  show  that  not 
only  individual  Frenchmen  but  French  diploma- 
tists and  Russian  diplomatists  have  been  greatly 
insulted  in  Germany,  especially  in  Berlin  and 
Munich. 

Contrast  with  this  the  attitude  of  a  crowd  which 
I  saw  to-day  watching  about  a  thousand  Germans 
and  Austrians  tramp  to  a  railway  station,  where 
they  were  entrained  for  their  concentration  camp. 
They  marched  between  soldiers  with  fixed  bayonets 
ready  to  protect  them.  But  the  crowd  watched 
them  almost  sympathetically,  with  not  an  insult, 
not  a  jeer. 

The  mobilization  in  France  has  caused  an  extraor- 
dinary increase  in  the  number  of  marriages  con- 
tracted at  the  various  Paris  town  halls.  From 
morning  till  night  the  mayors  and  their  assistants 
have  been  kept  busy  uniting  couples  who  would  be 
separated  the  same  day  or  the  next,  when  the  hus- 
band joined  his  regiment.  At  the  bare  announce- 
ment of  the  possibility  of  war,  the  marriage  offices 

[46] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

at  the  town  halls  were  literally  taken  by  assault. 
As  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost,  arrangements  were 
made  by  the  chief  officials  to  accept  the  minimum 
of  documentary  proofs  of  identity  in  all  cases  where 
the  bridegrooms  were  called  upon  to  serve  their 
country.  The  other  papers  required  by  the  law 
will  be  put  in  later. 

The  statistics  of  the  first  five  days  of  the  mobili- 
zation show  that  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  mar- 
riages were  performed  a  day  as  against  the  ordinary 
figure  of  one  hundred  and  ten.  In  the  suburbs  the 
increase  is  even  greater,  and  a  notable  fact,  both  in 
Paris  and  outside,  is  that  the  largest  number  of 
marriages  took  place  in  the  most  populous  districts. 
In  the  eleventh  arrondissement  the  ordinary  figures 
were  trebled.  All  wedding  parties  wear  little 
French,  English,  Russian,  and  Belgian  flags. 

General  Michel,  Military  Governor  of  Paris,  has 
issued  an  order  formally  forbidding  any  one  to 
leave  or  enter  Paris  either  on  foot  or  in  any  kind  of 
vehicle  between  the  hours  of  six  at  night  and  six  in 
the  morning. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  executive  committee  of  the 
American  Ambulance  of  Paris,  it  was  announced 
that  more  than  thirty  thousand  francs  had  been 

[47] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

received,  exclusive  of  the  sums  obtained  by  the 
women's  committee,  and  apart  from  the  promises 
of  larger  subscriptions. 

Up  to  yesterday  morning  twelve  physicians  and 
surgeons  and  twice  that  number  of  nurses  had  vol- 
unteered to  assist  the  regular  staff  of  the  American 
Hospital  in  the  work  of  caring  for  wounded  French 
soldiers.  Among  the  physicians  and  surgeons  who 
have  volunteered  are  Doctor  Joseph  Blake,  of  New 
York;  Doctor  Charles  Roland,  formerly  a  surgeon 
of  the  United  States  army,  and  Doctor  George  B. 
Hayes,  of  Paris. 

The  women's  committee  held  a  meeting  at  the 
American  Embassy,  when  further  subscriptions 
were  received,  that  brought  the  total  amount  ob- 
tained by  this  committee  up  to  eighteen  thousand 
francs. 

The  executive  committee  now  consists  of  Mrs. 
Laurence  V.  Benet,  Mrs.  H.  Herman  Harjes,  Mrs. 
Potter  Palmer,  Mrs.  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton, 
Mrs.  George  Munroe,  Mrs.  Edith  Wharton,  Mrs. 
William  Jay,  Mrs.  Tuck,  Mrs.  C.  C.  Cuyler  and 
Mrs.  Elbert  H.  Gary. 

I  was  to-day  with  an  American  journalist  who 
has  an  apartment  in  the  Rue  Hardy  at  Versailles. 

[48] 


Photo.  Henri  Manuel,  Paris. 

General  Victor  Constant  Michel,  Military  Governor  of  Paris 
until  August  27,  1914. 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

He  is  a  single  man,  and  his  house  is  a  fairly  roomy 
one.  The  other  day  he  was  waited  upon  by  a  mili- 
tary officer,  who  told  him  that  sixty  thousand  sol- 
diers were  to  be  billeted  on  the  inhabitants  — 
making  one  to  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the 
city  of  the  "  Roi  Soleil."  They  would  need  some 
part  of  his  house  —  which,  by  the  way,  was  formerly 
the  domicile  of  Louis  David,  the  great  painter  of 
Napoleon  —  and  he  would  be  glad  if  he  could  make 
arrangements  to  lodge  four  soldiers.  My  friend  at 
once  consented,  and  out  of  the  five  rooms  he  has 
kept  two  to  himself.  In  the  other  three  are  billeted 
a  cavalry  officer  and  four  soldiers.  The  only  thing 
the  American  has  had  to  complain  of  up  to  now  is 
that  every  morning  at  six  o'clock  the  officer  wakes 
him  up  by  playing  the  "  Pilgrims'  Chorus  "  from 
"  Tannhauser  "  on  the  piano. 

Germans  are  still  found  in  strange  places,  con- 
sidering the  fact  that  the  French  are  at  war  with 
them.  I  saw  one  man  ask  for  his  papers  at  the  Gare 
de  1'Est  this  afternoon,  where  with  incredible  assur- 
ance he  was  watching  the  entraining  of  French 
troops.  He  was  led  away  between  two  policemen, 
and  ought  to  feel  thankful  that  the  crowd  did  not 
get  hold  of  him.  He  might  have  shared  the  same 

[49] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

fate  as  that  which  befell  one  of  his  imprudent  com- 
patriots last  Sunday  at  Clarendon.  It  was  the  day 
after  mobilization  had  been  declared,  and  the  Ger- 
man knew  that  he  must  leave  the  country.  But  in 
a  swaggering  mood  he  said  he  would  not  leave  until 
he  had  killed  at  least  one  of  these  condemned 
Frenchmen.  His  words  were  reported,  and  he  fled 
into  an  entry  and  made  his  way  into  an  adjoining 
house,  where  the  crowd  lost  sight  of  him.  When 
he  emerged  a  cavalry  escort  protected  him  against 
the  mad  people  who  wanted  to  lynch  him,  and 
bundled  him  into  a  cab.  He  had  been  very  badly 
handled,  and  his  face  was  streaming  with  blood. 
He  drove  away  as  fast  as  the  horse  could  gallop, 
but  bystanders  went  after  him,  climbed  up  behind 
at  the  rear  of  the  cab,  and  shot  him  dead  through 
the  little  window. 

Foreigners  who  know  the  women  of  France,  who 
have  lived  in  the  country,  have  always  given  them 
a  very  high  place  as  wives,  mothers,  and  managers. 
But  to-day  they  merit  the  admiration  of  the  world 
more  than  ever. 

I  have  seen  them  taking  farewell  of  their  hus- 
bands, sons,  and  brothers  during  the  past  few  days, 
and  nothing  could  surpass  the  courage  with  which 

[50] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

they  have  sent  them  off  to  the  war.  They  have 
struggled  bravely  to  conceal  their  emotion,  and 
only  after  the  men  have  gone  have  the  women  given 
their  feelings  free  play.  An  American  lady  who  has 
seen  some  of  these  departures  told  me  the  otherclay 
that  the  sight  of  the  children  clinging  to  their 
fathers'  hands  so  as  to  prevent  them  going  away 
to  the  war  was  one  of  the  saddest  sights  she  had  ever 
witnessed. 


[51] 


Saturday,  August  8. 

SEVENTH  day  of  mobilization.  Ideal  summer 
weather.  Temperature,  16  centigrade,  with  light 
westerly  breezes.  The  moon  is  now  full  —  a  first- 
rate  thing  for  the  British  fleet  in  search  of  German 
ships;  also  useful  for  French  military  operations, 
and  for  lighting  the  streets  of  Paris,  thereby  en- 
abling economy  in  gas. 

The  news  of  the  capture  of  Altkirch,  in  Alsace, 
by  the  French  troops,  reached  Paris  at  about  five 
o'clock  this  afternoon.  It  spread  like  wildfire 
through  the  city,  and  a  rush  was  immediately  made 
to  buy  the  special  editions  of  the  newspapers  an- 
nouncing the  victory. 

To  those  who  are  not  familiar  with  the  Parisian 
character,  the  comparative  silence  with  which  the 
news  was  received  came  as  a  surprise.  There  was 
no  enthusiastic  outbreak  of  popular  sentiment,  no 
cheering,  no  throwing  into  the  air  of  hats  or  sticks. 

After  forty-three  years  of  weary  waiting,  the 
Tricolor  floated  over  an  Alsatian  town.  "  At  last!  " 
That  was  the  word  that  was  heard  on  every  side. 

[52] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

The  moment  was  too  solemn  to  Frenchmen  to  allow 
them  to  say  more. 

The  existence  of  war  will  be  further  brought  home 
to  Parisians  on  Monday  by  the  disappearance  of 
the  morning  breakfast  rolls.  In  consequence  of  the 
great  number  of  bakers  now  serving  with  the  colors, 
it  has  been  decided  to  simplify  bread  making  in 
Paris  so  as  to  ensure  the  supply  being  regular,  and 
consequently  the  only  kinds  obtainable  after  to-day 
will  be  those  known  as  boulot  and  demi-fendu. 

The  regulation  of  the  milk  supply  is  being  rapidly 
organized.  Those  households  hi  which  milk  is  a 
necessity,  for  children,  invalids,  or  the  old,  can 
obtain  certificates  giving  them  the  preference.  On 
the  day  after  application  for  these  certificates  they 
are  delivered,  together  with  full  particulars  as  to 
the  amount,  quantity,  price,  and  place  of  purchase. 

The  position  of  other  food  supplies  is  excellent. 
The  only  difficulty  is  to  get  them  delivered.  House- 
keepers must  fetch  their  bread  and  milk  if  they 
want  them  to  time. 

Few  articles  of  food  have  reached  the  maximum 
price  laid  down  for  them  by  the  authorities.  Fresh 
vegetables  and  fruit  are  very  cheap.  The  only  im- 
portant articles  which  the  shops  have  difficulty  in 

[53] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

supplying  are  sugar,  condensed  milk,  and  dried 
cereals. 

During  the  past  week  about  three  thousand  papers 
of  nationality  were  issued  at  the  American  Con- 
sulate-general, and  some  sixteen  hundred  at  the 
Embassy.  This  number  may  be  taken  as  approxi- 
mately coinciding  with  the  number  of  American 
tourists  now  in  Paris,  as  virtually  all  of  these  had 
to  secure  papers  of  nationality  in  order  to  register 
with  the  police, 

Post-office  regulations  are  still  very  strict.  Fol- 
lowing the  discovery  of  numerous  spies  in  and  about 
Paris,  General  Michel  has  issued  an  order  strictly 
prohibiting  conversations  on  the  telephone  in  any 
other  language  but  French.  When  this  order  is  not 
obeyed,  the  communication  is  immediately  cut  off. 


[54] 


Sunday,  August  9. 

EIGHTH  day  of  mobilization.  Hot  summer  day, 
with  light  southwesterly  breezes.  Temperature  at 
five  P.  M.  26  degrees  centigrade. 

This  may  be  regarded  as  the  first  Sunday  of  the 
war.  Last  Sunday  was  a  day  of  rush  and  clamor 
in  Paris.  All  shops  were  open  and  filled  with  eager 
customers;  the  streets  were  crammed  with  shout- 
ing crowds  and  hurrying  vehicles;  every  thing  was 
forgotten  in  the  outburst  of  national  enthusiasm. 
In  the  afternoon  and  evening  the  city  was  the 
scene  of  riots  and  pillage. 

To-day  Paris  presented  a  strong  contrast.  The 
news  of  French  and  Belgian  successes  at  the  front 
had  cheered  the  hearts  of  Parisians,  and,  in  spite 
of  the  strange  aspect  of  the  boulevards,  denuded  of 
their  gay  terraces,  and  of  most  of  the  ordinary 
means  of  locomotion,  the  city  had  something  of  a 
holiday  aspect  about  it. 

In  the  afternoon  the  city  was  crowded  with 
promenaders  dressed  in  Sunday  garb.  The  pro- 
portion of  women  to  men  has  largely  increased,  but 

[Ml 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

the  arrival  of  numerous  reservists  from  the  prov- 
inces caused  Paris  to  appear,  temporarily  at  least, 
somewhat  less  empty  of  men. 

Indeed,  the  aspect  of  the  city  very  much  re- 
sembled that  of  any  Sunday  in  summer,  when  the 
city  is  normally  far  from  crowded. 

I  met  MacAlpin  of  the  Daily  Mail,  who  said  to 
me: 

"  I  took  a  walk  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  yester- 
day afternoon.  In  a  lonely  alley  I  was  stopped  by 
three  cyclist  policemen.  They  asked  for  my  papers. 
Fortunately,  I  had  with  me  my  passport  and  the 
'  permission  to  remain  '  issued  to  me  as  a  foreigner. 
If  I  had  happened  to  have  left  these  in  another  coat, 
I  should  have  been  arrested. 

16  The  policemen  told  me  those  were  their  orders. 
They  added  confidentially  that  they  were  looking 
for  Germans.  After  this  I  saw  many  more  cyclists 
on  the  same  errand.  They  are  hunting  the  woods 
systematically,  because  many  Germans  of  suspicious 
character  have  taken  refuge  there. 

"  I  rang  up  a  friend  on  the  telephone,  and  began, 
as  usual:  '  Hullo,  is  that  you?  '  I  was  immediately 
told  by  the  girl  at  the  exchange  that  '  speaking  in 
foreign  languages  was  not  permitted.'  '  Unless  you 

[56] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

speak  in  French/  she  said,  '  I  shall  cut  you  off  at 
once.'  I  suppose  she  listened  to  what  we  were  say- 
ing all  the  time. 

"  I  went  into  a  post-office  to  send  a  telegram  to 
my  wife.  *  You  must  get  it  authorized  at  a  police 
office/  I  was  told.  Not  the  simplest  private  mes- 
sage can  be  accepted  until  it  has  passed  the  censor." 

No  one  is  to  be  allowed  from  now  on  to  have  a 
complete  wireless  installation  in  Paris.  Many 
people  have  set  up  instruments,  some  for  amuse- 
ment, some,  it  appears,  for  sinister  purposes.  No 
one  may  send  messages  now,  though  they  are  al- 
lowed to  keep  their  receivers.  In  order  to  hear 
the  messages  which  come  through  from  Russia,  the 
Eiffel  Tower  station,  it  is  explained,  needs  "  dead 
silence  "  in  the  air. 

It  was  even  announced  two  days  ago  that  no  one 
would  be  allowed  to  pass  in  or  out  of  Paris  between 
six  at  night  and  six  in  the  morning.  But  this  caused 
such  inconvenience  to  so  many  people  that  the 
Military  Governor  of  Paris  was  asked  by  the  police 
to  rescind  his  order,  which  he  at  once  did. 

The  tenors  and  baritones  and  sopranos  of  the 
Opera  and  other  theaters  are  going  round  singing 
in  the  courtyards  for  the  benefit  of  the  Red  Cross. 

[57] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

The  Salon  is  turned  into  a  military  stable.  Where 
the  pictures  hung,  horses  are  munching  their  hay. 
The  Comedie  Franchise  is  to  become  a  day  nursery 
for  the  children  of  women  who,  in  the  absence  of 
their  husbands,  are  obliged  to  go  out  to  work. 

Mr.lHerrick  told  me  this  afternoon  that  a  few 
days  ago  the  Telegraph  Office  refused  his  cipher 
cables  to  Washington.  The  Ambassador  at  once 
protested  at  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  where 
the  Minister,  M.  Doumergue,  forthwith  gave  orders 
authorizing  the  telegraph  office  to  accept  his  cipher 
messages.  The  Austrian  Ambassador,  who  is  still 
here,  is  not  permitted  to  communicate  by  cipher 
telegrams  with  his  Government.  This  is  quite 
natural. 


[58] 


Monday,  August  10. 

NINTH  day  of  mobilization.  Hot,  sunny  weather. 
Temperature  at  five  p.  M.  29  degrees  centigrade. 
Light  southerly  breeze. 

Depicted  on  all  faces  this  morning  is  anxious  but 
confident  expectation,  for  the  public  are  conscious 
that  a  desperate  encounter  between  two  millions  of 
men  is  impending  in  Belgium  and  on  the  Alsace- 
Lorraine  border  from  Liege  to  Colmar. 

The  French  capital  is,  at  the  present  moment,  a 
city  of  strange  contrasts.  Mothers,  wives,  sisters, 
and  brides  were  last  week  red-eyed  from  the  sorrow 
of  parting.  Now  these  same  women  have  decorated 
their  windows  with  bunting  and  have  no  thought 
other  than  of  working  as  best  they  may  to  help  the 
national  cause. 

In  the  streets,  the  shrill  voices  of  children  pipe 
the  latest  news  from  the  front;  small  girls  cry  grim 
details  of  the  war. 

All  prisoners  charged  with  light  offenses  who  are 
mobilizable  have  been  allowed  to  go  to  the  front 
to  rehabilitate  themselves.  The  central  prison  of 

[59] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Fresnes,  which  ten  days  ago  contained  nine  hundred 
criminals,  has  now  only  two  hundred  and  fifty  left. 

And  all  the  tune  Paris  lives  an  every-day,  hum- 
drum life,  makes  the  best  of  everything,  and  never 
complains. 

Day  by  day  the  aspect  of  the  streets  becomes 
more  normal,  for  the  reason  that  more  and  more 
vehicles  are  freed  from  military  service  and  can  now 
resume  their  ordinary  duties  of  transporting  the 
public.  Pending  the  return  of  the  motor-omnibuses, 
a  service  of  char-a-bancs  has  been  started  on  the 
boulevards,  which  reminds  Parisians  of  the  days  of 
the  popular  "  Madeleine-Bastille  "  omnibus. 

Diplomatic  relations  between  France  and  Austria- 
Hungary  were  broken  off  to-day.  War  however 
has  not  been  declared  between  France  and  Austria. 

I  met  to-day  M.  Hedeman,  the  correspondent  of 
the  Matin,  who  recently  witnessed  in  Berlin  the 
arrival  of  Emperor  William  and  the  Crown  Prince, 
which  he  compared  to  the  departure  of  Napoleon 
III  for  Sedan  in  1870.  We  were  talking  at  the 
Ministry  of  War,  where  I  also  met  the  Marquis 
Robert  de  Flers,  the  well-known  dramatist  and 
editor  of  the  Figaro,  and  M.  Lazare  Weiler,  deputy. 
M.  Hedeman  told  me  that  two  days  after  the  dec- 

[60] 


The  Statue  of  Strasbourg,  after  the  capture  of  Altkirch  in 
Alsace  by  French  troops. 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

laration  of  war  a  skirmish  took  place  near  the  village 
of  Genaville  in  the  department  of  Meurthe-et- 
Moselle,  between  French  custom-house  officials  and 
a  squadron  of  German  cavalry.  The  commander 
of  the  German  detachment  was  shot  in  the  stomach, 
fell  to  the  ground,  and  was  captured.  He  was 
Lieutenant  Baron  Marshall  von  Bieberstein,  son  of 
the  former  German  Ambassador  at  Constantinople. 
A  French  lieutenant  of  gendarmes  helped  the  pris- 
oner to  his  feet.  Lieutenant  von  Bieberstein,  who 
was  mortally  wounded,  said:  "Thank  you,  gentle- 
men! I  have  done  my  duty  in  serving  my  country, 
just  as  you  are  serving  your  own!  "  He  then  died. 
M.  Charles  Humbert,  senator  of  the  Meuse,  gave 
the  helmet  and  sabre  that  had  been  worn  by  Lieu- 
tenant Marshall  von  Bieberstein  to  the  editor  of  the 
Matin. 


. 


lei] 


Tuesday,  August  11. 

TENTH  day  of  mobilization.  Warm,  sunny 
weather,  with  light  northerly  breezes.  Tempera- 
ture at  five  P.  M.  27  degrees  centigrade. 

Expectation  of  the  great  battle  believed  to  be 
forthcoming  to  the  north  of  Liege  dominates  the 
situation  here. 

I  breakfasted  to-day  at  the  restaurant  Paillard 
with  M.  Max-Lyon  and  M.  Arthur  Meyer,  man- 
ager of  the  Gaulois.  Mile.  Zinia  Brozia,  of  .the 
Opera  Comique,  who  remains  in  Paris,  was  also  of 
our  party.  All  sorts  of  war  rumors  were  current, 
but  as  M.  Messimy,  the  minister  of  war,  has 
given  to  M.  Arthur  Meyer  the  assurance  that 
while  the  news  given  out  "  might  not  be  all  the 
news,  it  would  nevertheless  be  invariably  true  news," 
confidence  in  the  official  communications  to  the 
press,  which  are  the  only  authentic  source  of  war 
news,  is  unshaken.  The  French  Ministry  of  War, 
in  its  official  communique  of  the  military  situation, 
issued  at  11.30  this  evening,  states  that  the  French 
troops  are  in  contact  with  the  enemy  along  almost 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

the  entire  front.  The  only  fighting  that  has  taken 
place,  however,  has  been  engagements  between  the 
outposts,  in  which  the  French  soldiers  everywhere 
showed  irresistible  courage  and  ardor. 

A  Uhlan  who  was  captured  near  Liege  on  Satur- 
day was  found  to  be  the  bearer  of  a  map  marked 
with  the  proposed  marches  of  the  German  army. 
According  to  this  map,  the  Germans  were  to  be  in 
Brussels  on  August  3  and  at  Lille  on  August  5. 


[63 


Wednesday,  August  12. 

ELEVENTH  day  of  mobilization.  Hot  weather, 
with  light  northerly  breeze.  Temperature  at  five 
p.  M.  29  degrees  centigrade. 

Breakfasted  with  M.  Galtier  at  the  Cercle  Ar- 
tistique  et  Litteraire,  Rue  Volney.  Several  mem- 
bers of  the  club  had  just  arrived  from  various 
watering-places.  One  of  them,  who  came  from 
Evian-les-Bains,  said  that  he  was  sixty-two  hours 
en  route.  The  trains  stop  at  every  station  so  that 
they  have  uniform  speed,  thus  rendering  accidents 
almost  out  of  the  question.  Only  third-class  tickets 
are  sold,  but  these  admit  to  all  places. 

It  seems  certain  that  the  first  part  of  the  German 
plan  —  namely  to  come  with  a  lightning-like,  over- 
whelming crash  through  Belgium,  via  Liege  and 
Namur  —  has  failed.  But  the  battle  of  millions 
along  the  vast  front  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
between  Liege  and  Verdun  has  opened,  and  the 
opposing  armies  are  in  touch  with  each  other. 
Every  one  in  Paris  has  confidence  in  the  final  result. 

There  is  news  of  stupendous  importance  in  the 
[64] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

official  announcement  that  Germany  is  employing 
the  bulk  of  her  twenty-six  army  corps  against 
France  and  Belgium  between  Liege  and  Luxem- 
burg. The  disappearance  of  the  German  first  line 
troops  from  the  Russian  frontier  is  now  explained. 
By  flinging  this  immense  force  upon  France,  Ger- 
many gains  an  advantage  of  numbers.  How  will 
she  use  it? 

Paris  seems  to  have  seen  very  little,  after  all,  of 
the  mobilization.  Most  people  may  have  seen  an 
odd  regiment  pass,  or  perhaps  numbers  of  horses 
obviously  requisitioned.  But  they  realize  none  of 
the  feverish  bustle  of  the  mobilization  centers. 

Versailles  relieves  Paris  of  all  this,  and  Versailles, 
since  the  first  day  of  August,  has  been  amazing. 
The  broad  avenues  of  the  sleepy  old  town  have  been 
packed  from  side  to  side  with  men  in  uniform,  men 
only  partly  in  uniform,  or  men  carrying  their  uni- 
forms under  their  arm.  At  the  first  glance  there 
seemed  nothing  but  confusion,  but  the  appearance 
was  misleading,  for  at  the  Chantiers  Station  train- 
load  after  trainload  of  troops  —  men,  guns,  horses, 
material  —  have  been  despatched,  taking  the  route 
of  the  Grande  Ceinture  Railway  around  Paris  to 
Noisy-le-Sec,  and  on  to  the  Est  system. 

[65] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

At  Versailles  one  realizes  very  fully  that  France 
is  at  war.  For  there  are  lines  and  lines  of  guns 
awaiting  teams  and  drivers,  hundreds  upon  hun- 
dreds of  provision  wagons,  rows  and  rows  of  light 
draught-horses,  many  being  shod  in  the  street, 
while  out  along  the  road  to  Saint-Cyr,  in  a  broad 
pasturage  stretching  perhaps  half  a  mile,  are  thou- 
sands of  magnificent  cattle  tightly  packed  together. 
They  are  to  feed  some  of  France's  fighting  force. 

And  at  Saint-Cyr  there  is  unheard-of  activity. 
The  second  army  flying  corps  is  being  organized. 
It  consists  of  nearly  eighty  certificated  volunteer 
pilots,  including  Garros,  Chevillard,  Verrier,  Cham- 
pel,  Audemars,  and  many  more  well-known  names. 
There  are  others  than  French  airmen  in  the  corps. 
Audemars  is  Swiss,  while  there  are  also  an  English- 
man, a  Peruvian,  and  a  Dane.  These  men  are  all 
waiting  eagerly  the  order  to  move. 

Those  at  the  American  Embassy  who  are  in 
charge  of  advancing  funds  to  Americans  in  need  of 
them  had  their  busiest  day  since  the  work  began, 
on  Monday.  Forty-six  persons  received  a  total  of 
3,514  francs. 

The  total  amount  of  money  distributed  for  the 
three  days  has  been  8,869  francs.  This  has  gone 

[66] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

to  105  persons,  which  gives  an  average  of  the  modest 
sum  of  84  francs  apiece,  or  less  than  'seventeen 
dollars. 

At  least  nine  out  of  ten  of  the  applicants  are  vir- 
tually without  bankable  credit  of  any  kind.  One 
man  gave  as  security  —  because  the  money  is  ad- 
vanced as  a  loan,  not  as  a  gift  —  a  cheque  on  a 
Chicago  bank,  but  he  admitted  that  the  cheque 
was  not  negotiable,  as  it  was  drawn  on  one  of  the 
Lorimer  banks  of  Chicago,  which  had  gone  into 
the  hands  of  receivers  since  he  left  for  Europe. 

Callers  included  a  number  of  negro  song  and 
dance  artists  who  had  come  to  the  end  of  their  re- 
sources. 

The  work  of  distributing  money  is  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  American  army  officers,  and  they  in- 
vestigate every  case  which  has  not  already  been  in- 
vestigated by  the  relief  committee  appointed  by  the 
Ambassador.  Major  Spencer  Cosby,  the  military 
attache  atj;he  Embassy,  is  the  treasurer  of  the  fund. 
Investigations  are  made  by  Captain  Frank  Parker, 
assisted  by  Lieutenants  William  H.  Jouett  and  H. 
F.  Loomis.  The  cashier  is  Captain  Francis  H.  Pope, 
with  Lieutenants  Francis  W.  Honeycutt  and  B.  B. 
Somervell  as  assistants. 

[67] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

When  the  history  of  the  great  war  is  written,  a 
very  honorable  place  will  have  to  be  reserved  for 
the  women  of  Paris.  In  the  work  of  caring  for  the 
destitute  and  unemployed  of  their  own  sex,  and 
anticipating  the  needs  of  great  numbers  of  wounded 
men,  they  are  showing  extraordinary  energy.  Every 
day  new  and  special  philanthropic  institutions  are 
started  and  carried  on  by  women  in  Paris. 

Comtesse  Greffulhe  has  taken  in  hand  the  pro- 
vision of  food  and  lodging  for  convalescent  soldiers, 
so  as  to  relieve  the  pressure  on  public  and  private 
hospitals  and  ambulances.  Mme.  Couyba,  wife  of 
the  Minister  of  Labor,  is  arranging  for  the  supply 
of  free  food  to  girls  and  women  out  of  work.  Mar- 
quise de  Dion,  Mme.  Le  Menuet  and  other  ladies 
are  opening  temporary  workshops  where  women 
can  obtain  employment  at  rates  that  will  enable 
them  to  tide  over  the  hard  times  before  them. 

The  Union  des  Femmes  de  France  is  doing  won- 
derful work  in  the  organization  of  hospitals  and  in 
sending  out  nurses  to  wherever  they  are  most  likely 
to  be  needed. 

One  of  the  finest  examples  of  energy  and  devotion 
is  being  set  by  the  wife  of  the  Military  Governor  of 
Paris,  Mme.  Michel.  She  has  identified  herself 

[68] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

specially  with  what  may  be  briefly  described  as 
"  saving  the  babies."  Her  idea  is  to  see  that  the 
coming  generation  shall  not  be  sacrificed  and  that 
expectant  mothers  whose  natural  defenders  have 
gone  to  the  war  shall  not  feel  themselves  forsaken. 

Mme.  Michel  is  the  president  of  a  committee  of 
ladies  who  have  undertaken,  each  in  her  own  dis- 
trict, to  seek  out  needy  mothers,  to  see  that  they 
and  their  children  receive  assistance,  and  to  give 
them  all  possible  moral  support. 

Mme.  Michel  is  putting  in  about  eighteen  hours' 
work  a  day  in  the  discharge  of  her  duties.  She  is 
up  at  daylight,  and  after  dealing  with  a  mass  of 
correspondence,  is  out  in  her  motor-car  before  seven 
o'clock,  on  a  round  of  the  various  mairies,  to  see 
that  the  permanent  maternity  office,  which  it  has 
been  found  necessary  to  start  in  every  one  of  these 
municipal  centers,  is  doing  its  work  properly. 

At  eleven  o'clock  she  is  back  at  the  big  house 
which  is  the  official  residence  of  her  husband,  close 
to  the  Invalides,  and  is  presiding  over  a  committee 
meeting.  She  lunches  in  about  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  and  plunges  into  more  committee  work,  which 
usually  lasts  until  well  after  four  o'clock. 

The  latter  part  of  the  afternoon  is  taken  up  in 
[69] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

another  tour  of  inspection,  dinner  is  a  movable 
feast  to  be  observed  if  there  happens  to  be  time  for 
it,  and  then  there  is  another  pile  of  letters  and  tele- 
grams a  foot  high  to  be  gone  through  and  answered; 
and  so  to  bed,  very  late. 


170] 


Thursday,  August  13. 

TWELFTH  day  of  mobilization.  Hot,  sultry 
weather  with  faint  northeasterly  wind.  Ther- 
mometer at  five  P.  M.  30  degrees  centigrade. 

Breakfasted  to-day  at  the  restaurant  Paillard 
and  met  there  M.  Arthur  Meyer,  M.  Max-Lyon, 
Maitre  Charles  Philippe  of  the  French  Bar,  and 
Mr.  Slade,  manager  of  the  Paris  branch  of  the 
Equitable  Trust  Company.  War!  War!  War! 
was  the  subject  of  the  conversation,  but  no  real 
news  from  the  front  except  of  outpost  fighting,  with 
success  for  the  French  and  the  Belgians.  Gabriele 
d'Annunzio's  flaming  "  Ode  for  the  Latin  Resur- 
rection", published  to-day  hi  the  Figaro >,  is  evi- 
dently intended  to  excite  Italians  to  seize  an  oppor- 
tunity to  abandon  neutrality  and  join  France  and 
the  Allied  Powers  against  Austria,  and  thereby  win 
back  the  "  Italia  Irredenta."  D'Annunzio  invokes 
the  Austrian  oppression  of  bygone  days  in  Mantua 
and  Verona,  calls  Austria  the  "  double-headed  Vul- 
ture ",  and  summons  all  true  Italians  to  take  the 
war-path  of  revenge.  "Italy!  Thine  hour  has 

[71] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

struck  for  Barbarians  call  thee  to  arms!    Vae  VictisI 
Remember  Mantua! " 

After  lunch  I  met  Mrs.  Edith  Wharton,  who  had 
made  some  valuable  mental  and  written  notes  of 
what  she  has  seen  in  Paris.  She  is  about  to  leave 
for  England. 

So  sure  were  the  Germans  of  advancing  rapidly 
into  France  that  they  had  decided  to  complete  their 
mobilization  on  French  territory.  According  to  the 
Figaro,  an  Alsatian  doctor,  who  came  to  France  on 
the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  had  been  ordered  to  join 
the  German  army  at  Verdun  on  the  third  day  of 
mobilization.  A  German  tailor,  living  in  Paris,  had 
instructions  to  join  at  Rheims  on  the  thirteenth 
day. 

Although  the  early  closing  hour  of  all  cafes  and 
restaurants  causes  some  inconvenience,  it  is  being 
taken  in  good  part  by  Parisians.  It  has  not  the 
slightest  effect  on  the  habits  of  the  city  as  far  as 
keeping  late  hours  is  concerned  —  no  power  on 
earth  could  make  the  Parisian  go  to  bed  at  nine 
o'clock. 

People  cannot  spend  their  evenings  in  the  cafes, 
so  they  spend  them  either  strolling  or  sitting  about 
in  the  streets,  smoking  and  chatting  for  hours. 

[72] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

But  the  new  closing  hour  has  had  the  effect 
expected  by  the  authorities.  It  has  made  Paris  the 
most  orderly  city  in  the  world.  The  police  are, 
however,  kept  very  busy,  for  the  regulation  as  to 
carrying  papers  is  being  rigorously  enforced,  and 
the  belated  pedestrian  is  invariably  challenged  by  a 
cavalry  patrol  or  by  the  ordinary  police.  If  his 
answers  are  unsatisfactory,  he  undergoes  a  more 
searching  examination  at  the  police  station. 

Paris  has  become  a  paradise  for  cyclists.  Owing 
to  the  lack  of  transportation  facilities,  hundreds  of 
Parisians  have  taken  to  using  bicycles  as  a  practical 
mode  of  locomotion,  and  the  city  now  swarms  with 
them.  This  state  of  things  is  not,  however,  likely 
to  last  very  long,  for  every  day  brings  more  vehicles 
back  to  the  capital,  and  every  day  brings  a  further 
step  towards  a  more  normal  situation. 

Some  cars  requisitioned  will  hardly  be  returned,  — 
as  is  evidenced  by  the  experience  of  Mrs.  Julia 
Newell  and  her  sister,  Miss  Josephine  Pomeroy, 
two  Americans  just  returned  to  Paris. 

Before  the  war  broke  out,  Miss  Pomeroy  left 
Frankfort  by  automobile,  but  in  passing  through 
Metz  her  $5,000  Delaunay-Belleville  machine  was 
confiscated  by  the  Germans,  and  her  footman  and 

[73] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

chauffeur,  who  were  Frenchmen,  were  put  into 
prison.  All  her  luggage  was  lost.  No  attention 
was  paid  to  her  protests  that  she  was  an  American 
citizen. 


[74] 


Friday,  August  14. 

THIRTEENTH  day  of  mobilization.  Another  hot, 
stifling  day  with  thermometer  (centigrade)  31  de- 
grees at  five  P.  M. 

Lunched  at  the  Cercle  Artistique  et  Litteraire, 
Rue  Volney.  Only  the  old  servants  remain.  The 
club  is  no  longer  open  to  non-member  dinner  guests. 
The  price  of  meals  is  reduced  to  three  and  a  half 
francs  for  lunch,  and  to  four  francs  for  dinner,  in- 
cluding wine,  mineral  water,  beer,  or  cider.  There 
is  great  scarcity  of  small  change.  To  alleviate  this, 
ivory  bridge  or  poker  counters,  marked  fifty  cen- 
times, and  one  franc,  are  given  in  change  and  circu- 
late for  payment  of  meals,  drinks,  etc. 

Greater  military  activity  is  noticed  in  the  streets 
than  for  some  days  past.  Many  movements  of 
troops  took  place  all  day,  and  long  convoys  of  the 
ambulance  corps,  including  several  complete  field 
hospital  staffs,  were  seen  driving  and  marching 
through  the  city. 

This  was  due  to  the  fact  that  within  the  last  few 
days  large  bodies  of  the  territorial  forces  had  con- 

[75] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

centrated  in  the  environs,  notably  at  Versailles, 
from  whence  they  left  for  the  front. 

Early  this  morning  certain  districts  of  Paris 
literally  swarmed  with  soldiers  of  the  territorial 
reserve. 

Although  most  of  them  are  married  men  and 
fathers,  they  display  as  fine  a  spirit  as  their  younger 
comrades.  They  may,  perhaps,  show  less  enthu- 
siasm, but  that  they  are  quite  as  calm  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  a  number  of  them  spent  the  last  hours 
before  their  departure  fishing  in  the  Ourcq  Canal. 

A  detachment  of  naval  reserves  has  been  brought 
to  Paris  to  assist  the  police  and  the  Municipal 
Guards  in  assuring  order  in  the  capital.  The  men 
wear  the  uniform  of  fusiliers  marins,  and  cor- 
respond to  the  marines  in  the  British  navy.  They 
will  be  placed  under  the  orders  of  the  Prefect  of 
Police. 

Mr.  A.  Beaumont  of  the  Daily  Telegraph  has  had 
a  very  narrow  escape  from  being  shot  as  a  spy.  He 
is  a  naturalized  American  citizen,  but  was  born  in 
Alsace.  When  the  present  war  broke  out,  he  started 
in  a  motor-car  to  the  front  without  the  necessary 
passes  and  permits.  He  circulated  about  and  ob- 
tained good  and  useful  news  for  his  paper.  The 
•[76] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

other  day,  however,  he  was  brought  to  a  standstill 
in  Belgium  and  was  arrested.  The  Belgian  authori- 
ties asked  at  the  French  headquarters:  "  What 
shall  we  do  with  him?"  The  reply  was:  "Send 
him  on  here  to  headquarters,  and  if  he  proves  to  be 
a  spy  he  will  be  court-martialed  and  shot."  This 
arose  from  the  confusion  of  names.  It  seems  that 
the  doings  of  a  German  spy  named  Bremont,  of 
Alsatian  birth,  had  become  known  to  the  military 
authorities  in  France  and  Belgium.  Beaumont 
stoutly  asserted  that  he  was  the  victim  of  mistaken 
identity,  and  only  after  very  great  difficulty,  and 
with  the  exceptional  efforts  of  Mr.  Herrick  and  of 
Sir  Francis  Bertie,  the  British  Ambassador,  was  he 
able  to  establish  his  true  identity,  when  he  was 
released  by  the  French  Headquarter  Staff,  and 
handed  over  to  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

Arrivals  of  detachments  of  German  prisoners  con- 
tinue to  be  reported  from  various  parts  of  France. 
A  Prussian  officer,  speaking  French  fluently,  was 
among  a  convoy  of  prisoners  at  Versailles  yesterday. 
The  officer,  on  seeing  some  French  territorials  march 
past,  singing  the  "Marseillaise",  remarked  to  his 
guard:  "  What  a  disillusion  awaits  us!  " 

[77] 


Saturday,  August  15. 
(Feast  of  the  Assumption.) 

FOURTEENTH  day  of  mobilization.  Heavy  thun- 
der storms  set  in  at  three  A.  M.  Showers  followed 
until  one  o'clock;  cloudy  afternoon  with  variable 
wind.  Thermometer  at  five  p.  M.  22  degrees  centi- 
grade. 

Huge  crowds  lined  the  streets  leading  from  the 
Gare  du  Nord  to  the  British  Embassy,  to  welcome 
Field-marshal  Sir  John  French,  Commander  of  the 
British  expeditionary  force,  who  came  to  visit 
President  Poincare  before  taking  command  of  his 
army.  At  quarter  to  one,  three  motor-cars  rapidly 
approached  the  Embassy.  In  the  second  I  could 
get  a  glimpse  of  Sir  John  in  his  gray-brown  khaki 
uniform.  His  firm,  trim  appearance  and  his  clear 
blue  eyes,  genial  smile,  and  sunburnt  face  made  an 
excellent  impression,  and  he  was  greeted  with  loud 
cheers.  He  had  a  long  talk  with  M.  Messimy, 
Minister  of  War. 

I  am  having  a  very  busy  time  trying  to  obtain 
permission  for  American  war  correspondents  to 

[78] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

accompany  the  French  armies  in  the  field.  Mr. 
Richard  Harding  Davis  and  Mr.  D.  Gerald  Morgan 
have  arrived  in  London  on  the  Lusitania  from  New 
York  to  act  as  war  correspondents  in  the  field  with 
the  French  forces.  As  president  of  the  Association 
of  the  Foreign  Press,  and  as  Paris  correspondent  of 
the  New  York  Tribune,  I  made  special  applications  at 
the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  at  the  War 
Office  for  authority  for  them  to  act  as  war  corre- 
spondents for  the  New  York  Tribune.  These  ap- 
plications were  endorsed  by  Ambassador  Herrick, 
who  also  did  everything  possible  to  secure  permis- 
sion for  them  to  take  the  field. 

The  official  regulations  for  war  correspondents 
are  much  more  severe,  however,  than  those  enforced 
during  the  Japanese  and  Turkish  wars.  In  the  first 
place,  only  Frenchmen  and  correspondents  of  one 
of  the  belligerent  nationalities,  that  is  to  say  French, 
British,  Russian,  Belgian,  or  Servian,  are  allowed 
to  act  as  war  correspondents.  Frenchmen  may 
represent  foreign  papers.  All  despatches  must  be 
written  hi  the  French  language  and  must  be  sent 
by  the  military  post,  and  only  after  having  been 
formally  approved  by  the  military  censor.  No 
despatches  can  be  sent  by  wire  or  by  wireless  teleg- 

[79] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

raphy.  No  correspondent  can  circulate  in  the 
zone  of  operations  unless  accompanied  by  an  officer 
especially  designated  for  that  purpose.  All  private 
as  well  as  professional  correspondence  must  pass 
through  the  hands  of  the  censor.  War  correspond- 
ents of  whatever  nationality  will,  during  their  so- 
journ with  the  army,  be  subject  to  martial  law,  and 
if  they  infringe  regulations  by  trying  to  communi- 
cate news  not  especially  authorized  by  the  official 
censors,  will  be  dealt  with  by  the  laws  of  espionage 
in  war  time.  These  are  merely  a  few  among  the 
many  rigid  prescriptions  governing  war  corre- 
spondents. 

I  talked  with  several  editors  of  Paris  papers  on 
the  subject,  notably  with  M.  Arthur  Meyer  of  the 
GauloiSy  Marquis  Robert  de  Tiers  of  the  Figaro, 
and  M.  Georges  Clemengeau  of  the  Homme  Libre. 
They  one  and  all  expressed  the  opinion  that  war 
correspondents  would  enjoy  exceptional  opportuni- 
ties, enabling  them  to  get  mental  snap-shots  of  pic- 
turesque events  and  to  acquire  valuable  first-hand 
information  for  writing  magazine  articles  or  books, 
but  that  from  a  newspaper  standpoint  there  would 
be  insurmountable  difficulties  preventing  them  from 
getting  their  "  news  to  market ",  that  is  to  say,  in 

[80] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

getting  their  despatches  on  the  wires  for  their 
respective  papers.  However,  Mr.  Herrick  is  doing 
everything  he  can  to  obtain  all  possible  facilities 
for  Mr.  Davis  and  for  Mr.  Morgan. 

Almost  every  day  brings  some  fresh  measure  in 
the  interest  of  the  public.  Yesterday  the  Prefect 
of  Police  issued  an  order  forbidding  the  sale  of 
absinthe  in  the  cafes  under  pain  of  immediate 
closure,  and  again  called  the  attention  of  motorists 
to  the  regulations  which  they  are  daily  breaking. 

The  sanitary  authorities,  too,  have  their  hands 
full.  So  far,  however,  the  present  circumstances 
have  had  no  influence  on  the  state  of  health  in  Paris. 
The  weekly  bulletin  published  by  the  municipality 
shows  that  the  death  and  disease  figures  are  quite 
normal. 

Mr.  Bernard  J.  Schoninger,  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee which  has  recently  been  formed  by  the 
American  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  Paris  with  the 
object  of  settling  difficult  questions  which  may 
arise  in  Franco-American  commercial  relations, 
states  that  his  committee  is  collaborating  with  the 
ladies'  committee  founded  by  the  wife  of  the  Ameri- 
can Ambassador  to  assist  wounded  soldiers.  In  a 
few  days  this  committee  collected  one  hundred  and 

[81] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

seventy-five  thousand  francs.  His  own  committee 
has  issued  an  appeal  to  all  Chambers  of  Commerce 
in  the  United  States,  and  he  trusts  that  considerable 
funds  will  be  forthcoming  for  the  ambulance  corps 
created  under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Hospital 
in  Paris.  The  Minister  for  War  has  granted  the  use 
of  the  Lycee  Pasteur,  where  it  is  hoped  to  establish 
an  ambulance  of  two  hundred  beds,  which  may 
later  be  increased  to  one  thousand. 

The  committee  has  also  taken  up  the  question 
of  the  payment  of  customs  duties  on  American 
imports  into  France,  and  Mr.  Schoninger  states  that 
he  has  met  with  the  greatest  kindness  and  that  the 
French  customs  authorities  have  agreed  to  accept 
guarantees  from  various  commercial  syndicates 
instead  of  actual  immediate  cash  payments.  This 
will  obviate  difficulties  occasioned  by  the  refusal 
of  French  banking  establishments,  acting  under  the 
terms  of  the  moratorium,  in  handing  over  funds 
which  they  have  on  deposit. 


[82] 


Sunday,  August  16. 

FIFTEENTH  day  of  mobilization.  Gray,  cloudy 
day  with  occasional  showers  and  westerly  wind. 
Thermometer  at  five  P.  M.  17  degrees  centigrade. 

I  drove  out  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  after  lunch 
with  the  Due  de  Loubat.  The  Bois  was  rather  de- 
serted; only  a  few  couples  were  strolling  about  or 
seated  on  benches  reading  newspapers.  Went  to 
the  Cercle  des  Patineurs,  where  fences  were  being 
put  up  on  the  lawns  to  enclose  sheep  and  oxen  to 
provision  Paris.  In  the  tennis  court  we  saw  about 
two  hundred  Kabyles  from  Algeria,  who  had  been 
found  astray  in  Paris.  They  sleep  on  straw  beds 
in  the  tennis  court  and  are  provided  with  rations. 
They  are  all  men,  and  will  be  drafted  into  the  Al- 
gerian reserves. 

Madame  Waddington,  formerly  Miss  King  of 
New  York,  and  widow  of  the  late  William  Henry 
Waddington,  senator,  and  member  of  several  French 
Cabinets,  and  one  of  the  French  delegates  to  the 
Berlin  Conference  in  1878,  remains  in  Paris,  and  is 
stopping  with  her  sister,  Miss  King,  at  her  apart- 

[88] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

ment  in  the  Rue  de  La  Tremouille.  Madame  Wad- 
dington  was  a  great  friend  of  the  late  King  Edward 
VII,  who  never  passed  through  Paris  without  call- 
ing to  see  her  and  lunching  with  her  and  her  family. 
Madame  Waddington,  who  is  in  excellent  health 
and  spirits,  told  me  that  the  feeling  was  so  strong 
against  the  Austro-Hungarian  Ambassador,  Count 
Szecsen  de  Temerin,  during  the  last  few  days  of  his 
stay  here  after  hostilities  had  begun  with  Germany, 
that  one  evening,  as  he  was  about  to  sit  down  to 
dinner  with  his  fellow  diplomatist,  M.  Alexandre 
Lahovary,  the  Roumanian  Minister,  at  the  Cercle 
de  rilnion,  which  is  one  of  the  most  select  and  re- 
stricted clubs  of  Paris,  the  secretary  of  the  club 
requested  M.  Lahovary  to  announce  to  the  Austrian 
Ambassador  that  the  committee  of  the  club  ex- 
pressed the  wish  that  he  should  no  longer  take  his 
meals  at  the  club  nor  appear  on  the  premises,  be- 
cause his  presence  under  prevailing  political  con- 
ditions rendered  the  Austrian  Ambassador  an  "  un- 
desirable personage."  The  Austrian  Ambassador, 
who  had  just  ordered  an  excellent  bottle  of  Mouton 
Rothschild  claret  for  his  dinner,  at  once  left  the 
club. 

Parisians    flocked    in    thousands    to-day    to    the 
[84] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

basilica  of  the  Sacre  Cceur  of  Montmartre,  where 
special  services  were  held.  This  church  was  planned 
and  built  in  expiation  of  the  war  of  1870.  It  was 
finished  only  a  few  months  ago,  and  was  to  have 
been  definitely  "  inaugurated  "  next  month. 

A  detachment  of  about  four  thousand  men  of 
the  Naval  Reserve,  most  of  whom  are  Bretons,  is 
encamped  to  the  north  of  Paris  at  Le  Bourget,  and 
there  have  been  stirring  scenes  in  the  little  church 
there.  It  has  been  crowded  with  sailors  and  soldiers 
at  every  service,  for  Bretons  are  among  the  most 
religious  of  all  peoples  of  France. 

Abbe  Marcade,  the  cure  of  Le  Bourget,  has  had 
magnificent  congregations.  On  the  Feast  of  the 
Assumption  the  Abbe  decided  to  hold  Mass  in  the 
open  air.  An  altar  was  accordingly  set  up  in  a 
large  field  beside  a  haystack.  Thirty-five  hundred 
soldiers  attended.  At  the  end,  the  Abbe,  standing 
on  a  table,  preached  a  sermon  in  the  falling  rain., 

These  military  services  at  Le  Bourget  have  been 
strikingly  picturesque.  The  Abbe's  sermons  are 
interrupted  from  time  to  time  by  cheers,  as  if  he 
were  making  a  political  speech.  His  words  on 
patriotism  and  soldiers'  duty  have  been  greeted  with 
shouts  of  "  Vive  la  France."  Loudest  of  all  was 

[85] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

the  applause  when  he  declared  that  feelings  of 
party  were  now  drowned  in  love  for  the  country. 
In  the  evening,  after  the  service  at  which  this  ser- 
mon was  preached,  the  Abbe  dined  with  the  officers 
of  the  regiment  and  with  the  socialist  mayor  of  the 
commune,  a  thing  which  would  have  been  impos- 
sible in  ordinary  times.  The  war  has  made  French- 
men stand  together  in  closer  unity  than  they  have 
ever  done  before. 

One  of  the  strangest  changes  brought  about  by 
the  war  is  that  of  the  fashionable  race-courses  of 
Auteuil  and  Longchamp.  These  have  been  turned 
into  large  grazing  farms  for  sheep  and  cattle  requi- 
sitioned by  the  military  authorities.  Another 
curious  requisition  is  that  of  all  French  military 
uniforms  in  the  wardrobes  of  the  Paris  theaters. 

Mobilization  orders  to  rejoin  his  regiment  at 
Rheims  on  August  7  have  been  found  in  the  pos- 
session of  a  wounded  German  soldier  in  hospital 
at  Brussels.  The  man  stated  that  several  of  his 
comracles  had  received  orders  to  join  the  colors  at 
other  French  towns  on  specified  dates.  This  shows 
how  the  German  plans  were  upset  by  the  resistance 
at  Liege. 

Field-marshal  Sir  John  French  slept  at  the 
[86] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

British  Embassy  last  night,  and  after  a  rousing 
reception  left  Paris  at  seven  o'clock  this  morning 
in  an  automobile  for  an  "  unknown  destination." 

Every  man  in  France  is  envying  the  young 
dragoon  officer,  Lieutenant  Bruyant,  who  has  been 
given  the  first  Cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  in  the 
war.  The  lieutenant  with  six  men  was  scouting 
near  the  frontier,  when  suddenly  he  saw  a  number 
of  horsemen  moving  a  good  way  off,  and  made 
them  out  to  be  a  patrol  of  twenty-seven  Uhlans. 
Shots  were  exchanged  and  a  German  fell.  Then  the 
Uhlans  cantered  away.  They  were  four  to  one,  but 
did  not  care  to  fight. 

The  French  followed  up  resolutely,  but  the 
Germans  kept  their  distance.  When  the  dragoons 
trotted,  the  Uhlans  trotted  too.  Now  the  former 
would  gallop  across  a  bit  of  open  country,  and  the 
Germans  would  gallop  away  just  as  quickly.  Evi- 
dently they  were  making  for  shelter. 

Soon  Lieutenant  Bruyant  saw  that  they  were 
trying  to  reach  a  wood,  where  they  could  take 
cover.  No  time  was  to  be  lost.  He  knew  that  if 
they  got  there  they  would  escape  him.  Now  was 
the  moment  to  unchain  the  ardor  of  his  men.  He 
gave  the  orders  "Draw  swords!"  "Charge!" 

[87] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

The  seven  spurred  their  horses  and  fell  upon  the 
twenty-seven  with  shouts  of  defiance.  The  shock 
demoralized  the  Germans,  who  made  no  stand  at 
all.  One  was  killed  by  a  lance  thrust.  The  officer 
in  command  was  drawing  his  revolver  when  Lieu- 
tenant Bruyant  cut  him  down  with  his  sabre.  Six 
more  were  wounded  and  knocked  off  their  horses. 
The  rest  fled  in  disorder. 


[88] 


Monday,  August  17. 

SIXTEENTH  day  of  mobilization.  Gray,  cloudy 
weather  with  northerly  breezes.  Thermometer  at 
five  P.  M.  17  degrees  centigrade. 

The  first  trophy  of  the  war,  the  flag  of  the  One 
Hundred  and  Thirty-second  German  Infantry  Regi- 
ment (First  Regiment  of  Lower  Alsace),  arrived  in 
Paris  this  morning,  having  been  brought  by  motor- 
car from  the  front,  where  it  was  captured  at  Sainte- 
Blaise  by  the  Tenth  Battalion  of  Chasseurs-a-Pieds 
(riflemen),  a  corps  which  distinguished  itself  in  the 
Franco-Austrian  war  of  1859  by  capturing  the  first 
Austrian  flag  at  Solferino.  In  1840,  the  Tenth 
Chasseurs-a-Pied  were  commanded  by  Patrice  de 
MacMahon,  then  a  major  and  afterwards  Marshal 
of  France  and  Due  de  Magenta,  and  whose  name 
is  remembered  by  the  corps  in  their  march  song: 

"  L*  dixiem'  batallion, 
Commandant  Mac-Mahon, 
N'a  pas  peur  du  canon, 
Nom  de  nom!  " 

189] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

The  captured  flag  is  of  magenta  colored  silk,  with 
a  white  St.  Andrew's  cross,  on  which  the  imperial 
eagle  and  the  regimental  insignia  are  embroidered 
in  gold.  The  news  that  a  German  flag  was  being 
shown  spread  rapidly,  and  a  large  crowd  gathered. 
There  were  no  insulting  remarks,  merely  quiet 
observation.  Among  the  first  to  see  the  trophy 
were  some  school-children  headed  by  their  master, 
who  explained  the  significance  of  the  capture.  The 
flag  was  taken  to  the  Elysee  Palace  and  shown  to 
President  Poincare,  who  is  himself  a  major  of 
chasseurs-a-pied.  It  was  afterwards  placed  in  the 
Invalides. 

General  Michel,  the  Governor  of  Paris,  has  noti- 
fied all  places  of  public  entertainment  that  their 
programmes  must  henceforth  be  submitted  to  the 
censors  under  pain  of  closure  of  the  establishment. 

Except  for  trifling  drawbacks,  inevitable  in  times 
like  the  present,  Paris  has  little  to  complain  of. 
There  are  everywhere  signs  of  a  gradual  return  to 
normal  conditions.  Among  these  is  the  reappear- 
ance of  flowers  on  the  costermongers'  carts  and 
at  the  kiosks.  In  the  early  stages  of  the  mobiliza- 
tion, when  many  thousands  of  families  were  saying 
good-by  to  their  men,  no  one  had  the  heart  to  buy 

[90] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

flowers,  even  had  any  supply  been  available.  The 
conveyance  to  Paris  of  flowers  grown  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  capital  has  now  been  reorganized, 
and  roses  and  carnations  are  being  sold  on  the  main 
thoroughfares  at  normal  prices. 

Women  and  girl  newspaper-sellers  have  become 
familiar  figures  in  Paris,  and  their  number  is  in- 
creasing steadily  as  the  needs  of  the  army  are  de- 
priving more  and  more  families  of  their  bread- 
winners. A  pathetic  figure  seen  on  the  Boulevard 
des  Italiens  yesterday  afternoon  was  a  woman 
toiling  along  under  the  weight  of  a  sleeping  child 
about  five  years  old,  and  calling  her  newspapers 
gently,  so  as  not  to  wake  him. 


91] 


Tuesday,  August  18. 

SEVENTEENTH  day  of  mobilization.  Cloudy 
weather  with  occasional  patches  of  blue  sky.  Ther- 
mometer at  five  P.  M.  17  degrees  centigrade.  Light 
northeasterly  wind. 

It  is  now  for  the  first  time  officially  announced 
that  the  British  expeditionary  force  has  safely 
landed  in  France  and  in  Belgium.  The  transporta- 
tion has  been  effected  in  perfect  order,  promptly  on 
schedule  time,  and  without  the  slightest  hitch  or 
casualty.  British  troops  were  everywhere  received 
with  immense  enthusiasm.  Not  only  have  they 
landed  at  Ostend,  Boulogne,  and  Havre,  with  all 
their  field  transports,  but  they  have  been  taken  up 
the  Seine  in  steamers  to  Rouen,  whence  they  were 
entrained  on  the  strategic  lines  for  Belgium.  M.  J. 
A.  Picard,  a  young  Frenchman,  and  his  wife  arrived 
from  New  York  and  reached  Paris  via  Boulogne. 
M.  Picard  will  join  the  army  to-morrow  as  a  re- 
servist employed  in  the  general  staff.  His  wife  will 
act  as  a  correspondent  of  the  Tribune  in  France. 
M.  Picard  said  that  Boulogne  was  full  of  British 

[92] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

troops.  They  marched  through  the  narrow  streets 
of  the  city  wearing  their  khaki  uniforms,  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  them,  roaring  as  they  pass  the 
new  British  war  slogan:  "Are  we  downhearted? 
No-o-o-o-ol  Shall  we  win?  Ye-e-e-e-e-s-s-s!  "  Then 
came  an  Irish  regiment  with  their  brown  jolly  faces 
beaming  with  fun,  and  singing:  "  It's  a  long  way 
to  Tipperary.  .  .  .  It's  a  long  way  to  go!  "  A 
Welsh  battalion  followed,  whistling  the  "  Mar- 
seillaise." The  prettiest  girls  in  every  town  throw 
flowers  and  kisses  to  these  stalwart  British  lads. 
As  soon  as  the  order  to  break  ranks  is  given, 
bevies  of  smiling  lasses  surround  the  troops,  offering 
them  sandwiches,  fruit,  wine,  and  flowers,  and  even 
kisses.  There  would  be  thousands  of  jealous  girls 
in  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Wales  to-day 
if  they  could  but  witness  the  reception.  Highland 
regiments  wearing  the  kilt  have  stupendous  success 
with  the  blushing  young  women  of  France. 

From  the  seat  of  war  in  Belgium,  and  also  in  the 
North  Sea,  the  same  awful  silence  continues,  and 
Parisians  manifest  growing  impatience  for  the 
inevitable  great  battle.  I  went  to  the  Ministry  of 
War  with  M.  and  Mme.  Picard,  but  no  news  of 
military  importance  was  communicated. 

[93] 


Wednesday,  August  19. 

EIGHTEENTH  day  of  mobilization.  Fine  summer 
weather,  with  light  northerly  wind.  Temperature 
at  five  P.  M.  17  degrees  centigrade. 

Absolute  silence  concerning  military  movements 
in  Belgium.  No  official  communication  was  made 
to-day  at  the  Ministry  of  War.  Parisians  feel  that 
momentous  events  are  about  to  take  place  but  look 
forward  with  calm  confidence. 

I  called  upon  my  old  friend,  M.  Rene  Baschet, 
manager  of  the  Illustration,  which  is  the  only  illus- 
trated weekly  paper  in  France  to  continue  its  issue. 
I  hastened  to  tell  M.  Baschet  that  I  had  received  a 
private  telegram  from  Rome  announcing  that  the 
Pope  was  so  ill  that  his  physicians,  and  above  all 
Monseigneur  Zampini,  did  not  think  that  His  Holi- 
ness could  live  through  the  night.  M.  Baschet  paid 
genuine  tribute  to  Lord  Kitchener's  instructions 
"  to  every  soldier  of  the  British  expeditionary 
forces ",  and  said  that  the  British  War  Minister 
showed  himself  at  once  "  heroic  and  hygienic  ",  and 
cited  the  passage:  "You  may  find  temptations, 

[941 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

both  in  wine  and  women.  You  must  entirely  resist 
both  temptations,  and  while  treating  all  women 
with  perfect  courtesy,  you  should  avoid  any  in- 
timacy." 

At  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  I  met  M. 
Jules  Cambon,  French  Ambassador  at  Berlin,  who 
after  being  treated  discourteously  by  the  Germans 
and  dealt  with  practically  as  a  prisoner,  reached 
Paris  by  way  of  Denmark  and  England.  It  would 
have  been  indiscreet  to  ask  M.  Jules  Cambon  to 
disclose  diplomatic  secrets,  but  after  conversing 
with  persons  who  accompanied  him,  it  seems  certain 
that  there  had  been  complete  understanding  be- 
tween Germany  and  Austria  about  the  sending  of 
Austria's  ultimatum  to  Servia.  It  is  true  that 
German  diplomacy  had  not  accepted  the  exact 
terms  of  the  ultimatum  communicated  to  Servia  on 
July  23  and  had  asked  for  certain  modifications  in 
the  text,  which  Austria  refused  to  make.  M.  Cam- 
bon drew  an  important  distinction  between  German 
diplomacy,  and  the  German  military  clique.  The 
former  were  willing  only  to  go  so  far  as  risking  a 
war,  while  the  latter  seized  the  opportunity  to 
bring  on  the  war  and  to  attack  France.  The  dis- 
cussion lasted  two  or  three  days,  and  the  military 

[95] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

caste,  receiving  the  strong  personal  encourage- 
ment and  support  of  Emperor  William,  became 
omnipotent,  and  from  that  moment  war  was  in- 
evitable. In  regard  to  France,  Germany  con- 
stantly repeated  the  formula:  "  Put  strong  pres- 
sure upon  Russia,  your  ally,  to  prevent  her  from 
helping  the  Servians!  "  To  this  France  replied: 
"  Very  good,  but  you  yourself  should  put  strong 
pressure  upon  Austria,  your  ally,  to  prevent  her 
from  provoking  a  catastrophe!  "  To  this  Germany 
rejoined:  "  Ah!  But  that  is  not  the  same  thing!  " 
Thus  it  was  in  this  "  cercle  vicieux  "  that  the  dip- 
lomatic conversation  continued,  which,  under  the 
circumstances,  and  especially  owing  to  the  attitude 
of  Emperor  William,  could  end  in  nothing  else  but 
war. 


[96] 


Thursday,  August  20. 

NINETEENTH  day  of  mobilization.  Ideal  summer 
weather.  Light  northerly  breezes.  Temperature 
at  five  P.  M.  16  degrees  centigrade. 

Good  news  of  further  French  advances  in  Upper 
Alsace  and  the  recapture  of  Mulhausen  make  Paris- 
ians cheerful.  The  death  of  the  Pope  during  the 
present  tension  is  scarcely  noticed.  All  thoughts 
and  expectations  are  centered  on  Belgium,  where 
the  great  battle  is  impending. 

It  is  announced  at  the  Ministry  of  War  that  it  was 
not  the  Tenth  but  the  First  Battalion  of  Chasseurs- 
a-Pied  that  captured  the  German  regimental  flag 
now  hung  in  the  Invalides.  The  French  tobacco 
factories  are  working  night  and  day  to  supply  the 
armies  with  tobacco,  for  in  all  countries  soldiers  and 
sailors  are  ardent  devotees  to  "  My  Lady  Nico- 
tine." In  honor  of  the  Belgians,  a  special  cigarette, 
La  LiSgeoise,  has  been  produced,  which  is  naturally 
tipped  with  cork  (liSge).  The  stock  of  "  Virginia  " 
has  run  short  for  supply  to  the  British  soldiers. 
The  "  Virginia  ",  being  slightly  scented,  is  known  in 

[97] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

France  as  tabac  a  la  confiture,  but  large  quantities 
are  being  imported  from  Liverpool  expressly  to 
satisfy  Tommy  Atkins. 

I  met  at  the  War  Office,  M.  Pegoud,  inventor  of 
"  looping  the  loop  ",  who  was  being  congratulated 
by  M.  Messimy,  Minister  of  War.  He  came  here 
to  get  a  new  aeroplane,  his  own  having  been  riddled 
through  the  wings  by  ninety-seven  bullets  and  two 
shells  when  he  was  making  a  raid  of  one  hundred 
and  eighty  miles  into  German  territory.  He  natu- 
rally did  not  tell  me  where  he  went,  but  simply  said 
he  crossed  the  Rhine  with  an  official  observer  and 
blew  up,  by  means  of  bombs,  two  German  convoys. 
"  Captain  Fink,"  he  stated,  "  destroyed  the  Fras- 
cati  airship  shed  near  Metz,  where  there  was  a 
Zeppelin  which  was  wrecked.  He  also  destroyed 
three  Taube  aeroplanes,  which  were  also  in  the 
shed." 

General  Bonnal,  formerly  professor  of  strategy 
at  the  Ecole  Militaire,  says:  "  The  greatest  piece 
of  good  fortune  for  France  that  can  be  expected, 
is  that  Emperor  William  will  take  personal  com- 
mand of  all  the  German  armies.  This  is  now 
an  accomplished  fact,  and  it  gives  us  all  immense 
encouragement." 

[98] 


From  L' Illustration. 

Flag  of  the  132nd  German  Infantry  Regiment. 

Captured  at  Saint-Blaise  by  the  1st  Battalion  of  Chasseurs  a  Pied  (riflemen) 
and  exhibited  at  a  window  of  the  Ministry  of  War. 


Friday,  August  21. 

TWENTIETH  day  of  mobilization.  Threatening 
weather  with  overcast  sky.  Northwesterly  wind. 
Temperature  at  five  P.  M.  19  degrees  centigrade. 
No  clouds  prevented  the  eclipse  of  the  sun  from 
being  seen  in  Paris.  Most  people  however  were 
profoundly  indifferent  to  the  celestial  phenomena. 

Thousands  of  foreign  volunteers  assembled  on 
the  Esplanade  des  Invalides  this  morning  to  offer 
their  services  for  the  war.  These  young  foreigners 
are  mostly  strong,  active  youths  and  have  all  re- 
ceived more  or  less  military  training.  They  marched 
through  the  streets  in  detachments  of  from  two  to 
six  hundred,  grouped  together  according  to  nation- 
alities, bearing  French  flags  alongside  flags  of  their 
own  countries.  There  were  about  five  thousand 
Russians,  five  thousand  Italians,  two  thousand 
Belgians,  numerous  Czecs,  Slavs,  Roumanians,  and 
Armenians,  together  with  smaller  contingents  of 
Americans,  British,  and  Greeks.  Mr.  Arthur  Bles 
and  his  second  in  command,  Mr.  Victor  Little,  are 

[99] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

busy  organizing  the  "  Rough  Riders  "  in  a  riding- 
school  in  Rue  Avenue  des  Chasseurs. 

M.  Geissler,  manager  of  the  Hotel  Astoria,  who 
was  recently  reported  as  having  been  shot  as  a  spy 
for  arranging  disks  on  the  roof  of  his  hotel  to  inter- 
fere with  the  French  wireless  telegraphy,  was  tried 
to-day,  not  by  court  martial,  but  by  a  civil  judge, 
M.  Tortat,  to  whom  the  court  martial  had  referred 
the  matter  for  further  evidence.  It  appears  that 
M.  Geissler  had  been  denounced  on  insufficient 
grounds  by  a  clerk  in  his  employment.  His  inno- 
cence was  established,  this  morning,  and  he  was 
released  from  the  Sante  prison  and  handed  over  to 
the  military  authorities,  who  will  probably  let  the 
matter  drop. 


100] 


Saturday,  August  £#. 

MOBILIZATION  is  now  completed.  This  is  the 
nineteenth  day  since  the  declaration  of  war  (Au- 
gust 3).  A  sultry  day  with  light  northwesterly 
breezes.  Thermometer  at  five  P.  M.  22  degrees 
centigrade. 

"  All  that  I  can  say  to  you  is  that  the  battle  has 
begun.  That  is  all  I  know,"  is  the  statement  made 
by  M.  Malvy,  Minister  of  the  Interior,  as  he  stepped 
into  his  motor-car  at  the  Elysee  Palace  on  his  way 
home  this  evening  after  the  meeting  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  National  Defence.  Remarkable,  impressive 
silence  prevails  everywhere.  If  people  speak,  it 
seems  to  be  in  a  whisper.  Never  before  was  Paris 
so  full  of  motor-ambulances,  all  driving  hurriedly 
hither  and  thither,  bearing  nurses  or  Red  Cross 
attendants,  but  never  a  wounded.  The  whole  of 
the  Rue  Francois-Premier  is  lined  on  both  sides 
with  Red  Cross  motor-cars.  The  railway  stations 
have  an  unusual  appearance,  with  hundreds  of 
wooden  booths  forming  a  sort  of  barrier  to  ap- 
proaches. The  calm,  confident,  silent,  patriotic 

[101] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

expectation  augurs  well  for  the  future  and  vividly 
contrasts  with  the  noisy,  braggadocio  spirit  of 
1870.  Paris  at  the  present  moment  is  the  most 
orderly,  well-behaved  city  in  the  world. 

I  met  at  the  Cafe  Napolitain,  a  favorite  resort 
of  journalists,  my  friend  Laurence  Jerrold,  chief 
Paris  correspondent  of  the  London  Daily  Telegraph. 
We  spoke  of  the  stories  showing  the  amazing  igno- 
rance in  which  German  officers  have  been  kept 
regarding  the  situation.  Mr.  Jerrold  told  me  that 
a  relative  of  his,  who  is  a  French  officer,  saw  yester- 
day two  Prussian  lieutenants,  who,  as  prisoners  of 
war,  were  being  taken  around  Paris,  to  a  town  in 
western  France.  Both  spoke  French  perfectly.  At 
Juvisy  station,  where  the  train  stopped,  they  said 
to  the  French  officer:  "  Of  course,  we  know  why 
you  are  taking  us  around  Paris  and  not  into  Paris. 
Paris  is  in  a  state  of  revolution,  and  you  don't  want 
us  to  see  what  is  going  on  there."  Argument  fol- 
lowed; the  Prussian  officers  persisted  that  Paris 
was  in  revolt,  that  France  stood  alone,  that  Eng- 
land had  declared  neutrality,  that  an  Italian  army 
had  already  crossed  the  French  frontier  and  had 
invaded  the  department  of  Haute  Savoie,  etc.  The 
French  officer  rushed  to  the  waiting-room,  bought 

[102] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

all  the  newspapers  he  could  find,  and  brought  them 
back  to  the  Prussian  prisoners,  who  fell  aghast 
and  read  them  in  silence,  as  the  train  proceeded. 

The  curator  of  the  Louvre  Museum  has  taken 
every  possible  precaution  to  ensure  the  safety  of 
the  works  of  art  under  his  care.  The  Venus  of 
Milo  has  been  placed  in  a  strong-room  lined  with 
steel  plates  —  a  sort  of  gigantic  safe  —  and  stands 
in  absolute  security  from  any  stray  Zeppelin  bombs. 
The  Winged  Victory  of  Samothrace  is  also  pro- 
tected by  armor  plates.  Monna  Lisa  once  more 
smiles  in  darkness.  The  Salle  Greque,  containing 
masterpieces  of  Phidias,  is  protected  by  sand  bags. 
Many  unique  treasures  of  statuary  and  painting 
are  placed  in  the  cellars.  Similar  precautions  are 
taken  at  the  Luxembourg  and  at  other  museums. 
The  upper  stories  of  the  Louvre,  which  are  roofed 
in  glass,  are  being  converted  into  hospital  wards, 
and  thus  the  collections  of  the  national  museum, 
which  belong  to  all  time  and  to  all  nations,  enjoy 
the  protection  of  the  Red  Cross  flag. 

I  made  a  brief  trip  to  Versailles,  which  has  been 
transformed  into  an  arsenal  and  a  vast  supply  depot 
for  food  and  forage.  Troops  of  the  military  com- 
missariat train  are  cantoned  in  the  parks  and 

[103] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

shooting  preserves  of  Prince  Murat  and  of  Mr. 
James  Gordon  Bennett.  The  attractive  little  sum- 
mer residence  of  Miss  Elsie  de  Wolff  and  Miss 
Elizabeth  Marbury  is  occupied  by  cavalry  officers. 
Versailles  is  the  mobilization  center  or  assembly  for 
the  southwestern  military  regions,  and  over  fifty 
thousand  men  have  been  equipped  here  and  sent 
on  to  their  destinations  at  the  front.  Herds  of 
cattle  and  flocks  of  sheep  are  grazing  contentedly 
on  the  lawns  and  meadows  of  the  chateau. 

The  membership  of  the  executive  committee  of 
the  women's  committee  of  the  American  Ambulance 
has  been  increased  by  the  addition  of  Mrs.  Robert 
Woods  Bliss,  Mrs.  Cooper  Hewitt,  and  Mrs.  Barton 
French. 

Among  the  American  women  who  have  volun- 
teered to  serve  as  nurses  in  the  hospital  now  being 
established  in  the  Lycee  Pasteur,  in  Neuilly,  are 
the  following:  Mrs.  H.  Herman  Harjes,  Mrs.  Fred- 
erick H.  Allen,  Mrs.  Laurence  V.  Benet,  Mrs. 
Whitney  Warren,  Mrs.  Charles  Carroll,  Miss  Ives, 
Miss  Edith  Deacon,  Mrs.  Barton  French  and  Miss 
Treadwell. 


[104] 


Sunday,  August  23. 

TWENTY  -  FIRST  day  of  the  war.  A  hot  sultry 
day,  with  southerly  wind.  Temperature  at  five 
p.  M.  25  degrees  centigrade. 

The  fourth  Sunday  of  August  finds  Paris  silently 
awaiting  news  from  the  great  battle  going  on  for  a 
distance  of  one  hundred  and  five  miles  extending 
from  Mons  to  the  Luxemburg  frontier,  and  which  is 
expected  to  rage  for  several  days.  Parisians  receive 
with  enthusiasm  the  news  communicated  by  M. 
Iswolski,  the  Russian  Ambassador,  announcing  that 
three  of  the  five  army  corps  which  Germany  has  in 
East  Prussia  have  been  defeated  by  the  army  of 
General  Rennekampf,  near  Gumbinnen. 

I  drove  to-day  with  the  Duke  de  Loubat,  who  is 
a  close  friend  of  Cardinal  Ferrata,  now  spoken  of  as 
foremost  favorite  among  the  Papabili  Cardinals. 
Monseigneur  Ferrata  enjoys  great  popularity  not 
only  at  Rome  but  abroad,  and  is  a  warm  friend  of  the 
United  States.  He  has  also  a  keen  sense  of  humor. 
Not  long  ago  a  distinguished  member  of  the  French 
parliament  lunched  with  Monseigneur  Ferrata 

[105] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

and  remarked:  "How  is  it  that  the  Church  re- 
quires such  a  long  lapse  of  time  before  pronouncing 
a  decree  of  nullity  of  marriage?  "  "  Well,"  replied 
Cardinal  Ferrata,  "  before  the  end  of  the  ten  years' 
delay,  it  is  usually  found  that  one  of  the  three  dies  or 
disappears,  and  that  the  petition  consequently  is  no 
longer  pressed!  "  A  great  change  is  noticeable  in 
the  Paris  churches.  They  have  been  more  crowded 
since  the  war  than  for  many  years  past.  I  entered 
the  Madeleine  to-day  and  found,  to  my  surprise, 
an  unusually  large  proportion  of  men  among  the 
congregation.  Most  of  them  were  reservists  called 
to  arms.  In  other  churches  the  congregations  were 
almost  entirely  composed  of  women  and  children. 
Our  Ambassador,  Herrick,  is  a  sort  of  guardian 
angel  for  Americans  in  Paris.  I  saw  him  to-day 
working  with  Mr.  Robert  Woods  Bliss,  first  secre- 
tary of  the  Embassy.  He  rose  at  six  in  the  morning, 
and  except  for  a  brief  repose  for  breakfast  and 
dinner,  is  constantly  ready  to  give  advice  to  Ameri- 
cans or  to  attend  to  intricate  diplomatic  duties  that 
crop  up  here  at  every  turn.  Our  Ambassador  also 
has  on  his  shoulders  the  affairs  of  all  the  Germans 
and  Austrians  who  remain  in  France.  Some  of 
our  countrymen  are  very  hard  to  please.  Every- 

[106] 


Robert  Woods  Bliss,  First  Secretary  of  the  United  States 
Embassy  in  Paris,  September,  1914. 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

thing  possible  is  being  done  for  those  who  wish  to 
return  home,  and  money,  when  necessary,  is  ad- 
vanced to  them  for  the  purpose.  But  they  strongly 
object  to  waiting  in  line  for  their  turn,  whether 
at  the  Embassy,  the  Consulate,  or  at  the  Trans- 
atlantic Company,  where,  owing  to  the  crowd  of 
applicants,  there  is  some  necessary  delay  in  attend- 
ing to  them. 

A  number  of  complications  have  arisen  by  dis- 
charged servants  filing  statements  against  their 
former  employers,  denouncing  them  as  "  probable 
spies."  Several  examples  of  this  have  already 
occurred  with  prominent  American  ladies  who  per- 
manently reside  here.  I  spoke  with  M.  Hennion, 
the  prefect  of  police,  on  the  subject,  and  he  said 
that  "  such  malicious  accusations  "  —  and  he  showed 
me  a  pile  of  denunciations  nearly  a  yard  high  — 
"  were  never  acted  upon,  unless  under  really  sus- 
picious circumstances." 

One  of  Mr.  Herrick's  callers  at  the  American 
Embassy  was  Mme.  Henri  de  Singay,  a  grand- 
daughter of  General  Logan,  of  Civil  War  fame. 
She  is  the  wife  of  a  French  army  officer  and  when 
the  war  broke  out  was  living  in  a  chateau  near 
Liege.  She  fled  to  Brussels  with  her  child,  and 

[107]  . 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

then,  leaving  the  latter  there  with  her  sister-in-law, 
came  to  Paris  to  say  good-by  to  her  husband,  who 
is  attached  to  the  aviation  corps  near  Versailles. 
Now  Mme.  de  Singay  cannot  return  to  her  child, 
but  she  is  not  worrying  over  the  situation  and  has 
offered  her  services  to  the  American  Ambulance 
here  in  Paris. 

The  earnest,  practical  way  in  which  General 
Victor  Constant  Michel,  Military  Governor  of  Paris, 
carries  out  his  work,  is  admirable.  General  Michel 
has  quietly  despatched  large  numbers  of  the  unruly 
youths  of  Belleville,  Montmartre,  and  Montpar- 
nasse,  —  known  as  the  "  apaches  "  —  to  the  coun- 
try, in  small  gangs,  to  reap  the  wheat  harvest,  and 
he  also  employs  them  in  the  government  cartridge 
and  ammunition  factories.  In  Paris,  they  have 
completely  vanished  from  sight.  The  prohibition 
of  the  drinking  and  sale  of  absinthe,  not  only  in 
Paris,  but  throughout  France,  was  also  due  to  the 
foresight  of  the  Military  Governor.  General  Michel, 
although  a  rigid  disciplinarian  and  a  masterful 
organizer,  is  extremely  affable  and  agreeable.  He 
was  born  at  Auteuil  in  1850,  and  after  graduation 
from  Saint-Cyr,  the  French  West  Point,  served  in 
the  war  of  1870-1871  as  second  lieutenant  of 

[108] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

infantry.  In  1894  he  was  made  colonel  of  an 
infantry  regiment  and  showed  such  proficiency 
during  the  manoeuvers  that  he  became  general-of- 
brigade  in  1897.  He  was  made  general-of-division 
in  1902;  he  is  member  of  the  Supreme  War  Council, 
and  in  1910  was  awarded  the  high  distinction  of 
Grand  Officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor. 


[109] 


Monday,  August  84* 

TWENTY  -  SECOND  day  of  the  war.  Hot  day  with 
bright  blue  sky  and  southeasterly  wind.  Ther- 
mometer at  five  P.  M.  27  degrees  centigrade. 

Terrific  night  and  day  fighting  continues  on  the 
Sambre  and  Meuse.  The  French  attack  seems  to 
have  been  repulsed.  The  allies  remain  on  the  de- 
fensive, awaiting  further  German  attacks.  The 
losses  on  both  sides  are  terrible.  Some  days  yet 
must  elapse  before  the  final  result  of  the  great 
battle  can  be  known.  Meanwhile,  Paris  waits  with 
patriotic  confidence.  Russian  victories  in  East 
Prussia,  the  Japanese  bombardment  of  Tsin-Tao, 
in  Kiao-Chow,  the  advance  of  the  Servians,  and  the 
increasing  probability  of  Italy  claiming  eventually 
her  "  irredenta  "  territory,  are  all  encouraging  fac- 
tors in  this  world-wide  war. 

The  American  volunteers  mustered  to-day  at  their 
recruiting  offices  in  the  Rue  de  Valois  and  marched 
to  the  Invalides,  where  they  passed  the  French 
medical  test  prior  to  enrolment  in  the  French  army. 
The  men  are  wonderfully  fit,  and  their  splendid 

[no] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

muscular,  wiry  physique  was  greatly  admired  as 
they  marched  through  the  streets.  Out  of  the  two 
hundred  present,  only  one  was  not  passed  by  the 
army  surgeons,  and  even  he  was  not  definitely 
refused.  The  corps  will  proceed  to-morrow  to  the 
Gare  Saint -Lazare  for  entrainment.  They  will  be 
sent,  at  first,  to  Rouen. 

M.  F.  A.  Granger,  a  young  Frenchman,  arrived 
to-day  in  Paris  from  New  York,  where  he  left  his 
wife  and  family.  He  sailed  on  the  Rochambeau  with 
many  of  his  countrymen,  coming,  like  himself,  to 
join  the  colors.  M.  Granger  tells  me  that  he  saw 
near  Lisieux  a  tram  of  German  prisoners,  mostly 
cavalrymen,  some  of  whom  had  been  wounded  by 
lance  thrusts.  They  seemed  resigned  to  their  fate, 
without  enthusiasm,  and  on  the  whole  rather  pleased 
at  the  prospect  of  being  confined  and  fed  in  France, 
instead  of  remaining  at  the  front.  They  said  that 
they  had  no  idea  that  England  and  Belgium  were 
fighting  against  them,  until  they  crossed  swords 
with  the  Belgian  cavalry,  which  they  at  first  sup- 
posed were  French. 


inn 


Tuesday  9  August  25. 

THIS  is  the  twenty -third  day  of  the  war.  Another 
warm,  sunny  day,  with  northwesterly  breezes. 
Thermometer  at  five  P.  M.  24  degrees  centigrade. 

Better  news  from  the  front  this  morning.  The 
great  battle  that  has  been  raging  for  three  days 
from  Mons  to  Virton,  during  which  the  French  and 
British  attacks  were  repulsed,  has  been  resumed, 
and  renewed  German  attacks  have  been  checked. 
Considerable  anxiety  as  to  the  result  nevertheless 
prevails.  My  concierge,  Baptiste,  for  instance, 
shakes  his  head  in  a  mournful  way  and  says:  "Ah! 
Monsieur,  there  is  already  terrible  loss  of  life.  My 
brother-in-law,  who  left  Luxemburg  three  weeks 
ago  to  join  his  reserve  regiment  in  France,  is  with- 
out a  cent  in  the  world,  and  what  will  become  of  his 
wife  and  two  little  children  —  the  Lord  only  knows! 
Their  little  farmhouse,  with  all  their  belongings, 
has  been  burned,  and  nothing  is  left." 

I  breakfasted  to-day  at  the  restaurant  Cham- 
peaux,  Place  de  la  Bourse.  Two  agents-de-change 
(official  members  of  the  Paris  Stock  Exchange) 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

took  very  gloomy  views  of  the  situation.  It  seems, 
however,  that  the  French  rentes  maintain  their 
quotation  of  seventy-five  francs.  Mr.  Elmer  Rob- 
erts of  the  Associated  Press  and  Mr.  Hart  O.  Berg 
sat  at  our  table.  Both  thought  that  the  war  would 
be  much  longer  than  at  first  expected  and  would 
depend  upon  how  long  Germany  could  exist,  owing 
to  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  food  from  abroad. 
"  Eight  months,"  said  Mr.  Berg. 

After  lunch  I  went  with  Roberts  to  see  the  de- 
parture of  the  first  contingent  of  American  volun- 
teers from  the  Gare  Saint -Lazare.  These  youths 
are  a  tall,  stalwart  lot,  marching  with  a  sort  of  cow- 
boy swing.  They  were  not  in  uniform,  but  wore 
flannel  shirts,  broad-brimmed  felt  hats,  and  khaki 
trousers.  They  carried  a  big  American  flag  sur- 
mounted with  a  huge  bouquet  of  roses,  and  along- 
side this  a  large  French  flag.  They  were  loudly 
cheered  as  they  were  entrained  for  Rouen,  where 
they  will  be  drilled  into  effective  shape. 

I  met  Mrs.  Edith  Wharton,  who  remains  in  Paris, 
and  is  doing  good  work  with  her  ouvroir,  or  sewing- 
circle,  which,  with  Mrs.  Thome,  she  has  organized 
in  the  Rue  Vaneau.  This  ouvroir  is  to  supply  work 
to  unmarried  French  women  and  widows.  Among 

[113] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

those  who  have  liberally  subscribed  to  this  are  Mrs. 
William  Jay,  Mrs.  Elbert  H.  Gary,  Mrs.  Beach 
Grant,  and  Mrs.  Griswold  Gray. 

I  went  in  the  afternoon  to  see  Madame  Wadding- 
ton  at  her  ouvroir,  156  Boulevard  Haussmann. 
Madame  Waddington  makes  an  appeal  by  cable  to 
the  New  York  Tribune,  calling  upon  all  American 
women  and  men  to  aid  her  indigent  French  sewing- 
women,  who  are  employed  in  making  garments  for 
the  sick  and  wounded,  for  which  they  receive  one 
and  a  half  francs  (thirty  cents)  and  one  meal,  for  a 
day's  work.  Madame  Waddington  wore  a  gray  linen 
gown,  with  a  red  cross,  and  was  working  away  very 
merrily,  distributing  materials  to  the  women.  She 
told  me  that  her  son  had  joined  the  colors  as  a 
sergeant  in  an  infantry  reservist  regiment  and  was 
at  the  front. 

M.  Maurice  Maeterlinck,  the  Belgian  writer  and 
philosopher,  is  living  at  his  quaint  Abbaye  de 
Sainte-Wandrille,  on  the  Seine  near  Caudebec. 
The  author  of  La  Vie  des  Abeilles  has  been  helping 
the  peasants  gather  the  wheat  harvest. 

After  three  weeks,  during  which  relief  funds  have 
been  advanced  to  Americans  at  the  Embassy,  the 
demands  for  money  continue  to  be  as  heavy  as 

1114] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

ever.  Paris  is  a  human  clearing-house,  into  which 
new  arrivals  are  now  coming  every  day  from 
Switzerland  and  elsewhere.  Although  many  tourists 
have  been  helped  and  started  on  their  way  for 
the  United  States,  new  ones  take  their  places  be- 
fore they  are  fairly  out  of  the  way. 

Thus,  although  the  Embassy  hoped  that  it  had 
succeeded  in  getting  the  persons  in  most  urgent 
need  off  to  America  on  the  Espagne,  the  departure  of 
that  vessel  has  caused  no  let-up  in  the  demand  for 
funds,  and  some  individuals  who  have  already 
been  helped  once  are  now  coming  back  for  further 
assistance. 

One  of  the  negro  song  and  dance  artists,  who  was 
given  some  money  a  couple  of  weeks  ago  and  who 
was  supposed  to  have  left  on  the  Espagne,  presented 
himself  and  asked  for  further  funds  after  that 
vessel  steamed.  When  asked  how  it  happened  that 
he  did  not  go,  as  arranged,  he  replied :  "  'Deed,  Ah 
overslept  mahself." 

"  Considering  that  the  boat  tram  left  at  six 
o'clock  in  the  evening,"  remarked  Major  Cosby, 
who  has  charge  of  the  administration  of  the  relief 
fund,  "  he  would  seem  to  be  a  good  sleeper." 

In  the  case  of  all  persons  who  are  helped,  the 
[115] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

stipulation  is  made  that  they  must  take  the  earliest 
possible  means  of  transport  to  America.  The 
Government  has  no  intention  of  financing  tourists 
who  desire  to  visit  Europe  at  this  time.  The  sole 
object  of  the  relief  fund  is  to  get  them  back  to  the 
United  States  as  soon  as  possible. 

In  addition  to  the  ordinary  relief  fund,  one  hun- 
dred and 'seventy  thousand  francs  have  been  paid  out 
at  the  Embassy  this  week  by  cable  orders  against 
funds  already  deposited  with  the  Department  of 
State.  This  is  a  purely  business  transaction,  the 
Government  having  already  received  the  full  amount 
of  the  payment  made,  but  it  has  been  a  source  of 
much  relief  to  many  travelers. 


[116 


Wednesday,  August  26. 

TWENTY  -  FOURTH  day  of  the  war.  Dull,  cheer- 
less weather,  with  a  Scotch  drizzle  in  the  afternoon 
and  heavy  rain  hi  the  evening.  Southwesterly  wind. 
Temperature  at  five  p.  M.  20  degrees  centigrade. 

The  great  battle  on  the  Sambre  and  Meuse  con- 
tinues with  frightful  slaughter  on  both  sides.  The 
allies  have  been  partially  forced  back  but  resist  with 
dogged  determination. 

Mrs.  Hermann  Duryea,  a  family  relative  of  mine, 
and  whose  husband's  horse  "  Durbar "  won  the 
English  Derby  this  spring,  has  come  to  Paris  for  a 
few  days  from  their  country  place  near  Argentan  in 
Normandy,  and  is  stopping  at  her  apartment  hi  the 
Avenue  Gabriel.  Mrs.  Duryea's  chauffeur,  who  is 
a  young  Frenchman,  says  that  Belgian  chauffeurs 
have  reached  Normandy  from  the  north,  telling 
harrowing  tales  of  the  brutality  and  cruelty  of  the 
Germans,  and  announcing  that  the  "  German 
cavalry  and  armored  motor-cars  would  soon  pre- 
vent people  from  leaving  Paris."  Mrs.  Duryea, 
who  is  an  exceedingly  cool-headed,  plucky  woman, 

1117] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

came  to  me  for  advice.  I  told  her  that  there  was 
no  probability  at  present  of  communication  from 
Paris  to  the  westward  being  interfered  with.  She 
sent  some  of  her  servants  home  to  the  United  States 
and  made  arrangements  to  rejoin  her  husband  at 
Bazoches-en-Houlme,  near  Argentan.  The  chateau 
has,  through  the  generosity  of  the  Duryeas,  been 
turned  into  a  Red  Cross  hospital. 

President  Poincare  has  taken  a  leaf  from  Great 
Britain,  and  Premier  Rene  Viviani  has  reconstructed 
a  new  Cabinet  with  eminent  men,  representing  all 
political  parties,  making  a  government  of  national 
defence.  Since  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  the  Cabinet 
has  been  taking  advice  from  statesmen  such  as 
MM.  Millerand,  Delcasse,  Briand,  and  Ribot. 
These  men  now  form  part  of  the  Ministry,  the 
formation  of  which  was  announced  to  a  group  of 
journalists  at  11.30  this  evening  at  the  Ministry  of 
War,  when  we  assembled  there  for  the  usual  nightly 
communique.  The  new  Cabinet  is  made  up  as  fol- 
lows: Prime  Minister  (without  Portfolio),  M.  Rene 
Viviani;  Vice-President  of  Council  and  Minister  of 
Justice,  M.  Aristide  Briand;  Interior,  M.  Malvy; 
Foreign  Affairs,  M.  Delcasse;  War,  M.  Millerand; 
Navy,  M.  Augagneur;  Finance,  M.  Ribot;  Agri- 

[118] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

culture,  M.  Fernand  David;  Public  Works,  M. 
Marcel  Sembat;  Labor,  M.  Bienvenu-Martin;  Com- 
merce, M.  Thomson;  Public  Instruction,  M.  Albert 
Sarraut;  Colonies,  M.  G.  Doumergue;  Minister 
without  Portfolio,  M.  Jules  Guesde. 

M.  Etienne  Alexandre  Millerand  is  an  illustrious 
member  of  the  Paris  Bar,  who  has  been  several 
times  a  cabinet  minister.  As  head  of  the  War  De- 
partment, two  years  ago,  he  did  more  than  any 
living  Frenchman  towards  the  reconstitution  of  true 
esprit  militaire  in  the  French  army.  He  prepared 
the  way  for  the  three  years'  service,  and  reorganized 
the  forces  of  the.nation  that  had  grown  rusty  during 
the  decade  that  preceded  the  alarm  caused  by  the 
German  Emperor  at  Agadir.  It  is  quite  probable 
that  M.  Millerand  will  prove  to  be  the  Lazare 
Carnot  —  "  The  Organizer  of  Victory  "  —  of  the 
present  war.  With  M.  Theophile  Delcasse  as 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  French  diplomacy 
cannot  be  in  better  hands.  In  calling  upon  M. 
Jules  Guesde,  socialist  deputy  for  Lille,  and  upon 
M.  Marcel  Sembat,  a  red-hot  socialist  —  both 
unified  socialists  and  trusted  friends  of  the  late  Jean 
Jaures,  the  Government  is  assured  of  the  hearty 
support  of  the  extreme  "  revolutionary  "  parties. 

[119] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

MM.  Guesde  and  Sembat  can  certainly  do  the 
Government  less  harm  inside  the  Cabinet  than  they 
might  do  outside  of  it.  No  better  evidence  that  all 
bitterness  of  political  parties  is  now  in  the  melting- 
pot  can  be  found  than  in  the  comment  of  the  re- 
actionary, ultra-Catholic,  royalist  Gaulois,  which 
says:  "  We  are  to-day  all  united  in  the  bonds  of 
patriotism  in  face  of  the  common  enemy.  We 
place  absolute  confidence  in  the  men  who  have 
assumed  a  task,  the  success  of  which  means  the 
salvation  of  France  and  the  triumph  of  civiliza- 
tion." M.  Georges  Clemengeau  was  offered  a  place 
in  the  Cabinet,  but  declined  to  accept  it. 

The  appointment  of  General  Joseph  Simon  Gal- 
lieni  as  commander  of  the  army  of  Paris,  and  mili- 
tary governor,  in  succession  to  General  Michel, 
means  that  France  is  resolved  to  put  Paris  in  a 
thoroughly  efficient  state  of  defence,  and  to  be  ready 
for  the  worst  possible  emergencies.  General  Michel 
is  an  admirable  organizer  and  administrator,  but 
he  has  not  had  the  vast  military  experience  of 
General  Gallieni,  who  is,  by  the  way,  a  warm  friend 
and  comrade  of  the  former  military  governor. 
Moreover  General  Michel  will  now  serve  under 
General  Gallieni's  orders. 


Photo.  Henri  Manuel,  Paris. 

General  Joseph  Simon  Gallieni,  appointed  Military  Governor 
and  Commander  of  the  Army  of  Paris,  August  26,  1914. 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

General  Gallieni,  as  a  strategist,  enjoys  the  same 
high  reputation  as  the  commander-in-chief ,  General 
Joffre.  He  was  born  on  April  24,  1849,  at  Saint- 
Beat  in  the  department  of  the  Haute  Garonne.  He 
entered  the  Saint-Cyr  military  academy  in  1868, 
and  was  appointed  a  sub-lieutenant  in  the  Third 
Regiment  of  Marine  Infantry  two  years  later,  and 
he  fought  with  his  regiment  through  the  war  of 
1870.  Since  then  he  has  distinguished  himself  in 
Tonkin,  Senegal,  and  Madagascar.  Everywhere 
he  has  shown  exceptional  qualities,  both  as  a  soldier 
and  administrator.  His  brilliant  career  finally  led 
to  his  appointment  as  a  member  of  the  Higher 
Council  of  War,  and,  in  acknowledgment  of  his 
great  services,  he  was  maintained  on  the  active  list 
after  passing  the  age  limit.  He  is  a  Grand  Cross  of 
the  Legion  of  Honor. 

President  Poincare  to-day  confers  further  extraor- 
dinary powers  upon  General  Joffre,  authorizing 
him  to  exercise  the  almost  sovereign  right  of  pro- 
moting officers  on  the  spot,  just  as  Napoleon  did, 
by  simply  naming  them  to  the  posts  where  he 
thinks  they  may  be  most  useful.  Thus,  General 
Joffre  can  make  a  captain  a  colonel  or  a  full-fledged 
general-of-division,  by  word  of  mouth.  This  priv- 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

ilege  was  not  even  granted  by  Napoleon  to  his 
marshals.  These  promotions  are,  however,  only 
provisional  during  the  war,  and  when  peace  is  made, 
must  be  ratified  by  Parliament.  This  renders  it 
possible  to  replace  general  officers,  killed  or  wounded, 
by  officers  selected  on  the  battlefield,  and  above  all 
enables  important  commands  to  be  filled  by  young 
officers,  who  give  proof  of  their  qualities  in  face  of 
the  enemy. 

An  idea  of  the  infinite  tragedy  of  war  was  brought 
home  to  many  Parisians  by  a  visit  to  the  Cirque  de 
Paris,  where  twenty-five  hundred  Belgian  refugees, 
men,  women,  and  children,  have  been  provided 
with  at  least  a  temporary  shelter. 

The  vast  building,  where  so  many  famous  boxing- 
matches  have  taken  place,  is  now  completely  trans- 
formed. The  ring  has  been  cut  in  two,  and  hundreds 
of  fauteuils  have  been  placed  in  small  groups  so 
arranged  as  to  form  substitutes  for  beds.  The  boxes 
have  been  reserved  for  the  many  women  with  infants 
in  arms. 

Hardly  were  they  installed,  and  hardly  had  the 
news  spread  in  Paris  of  their  miserable  plight,  than 
hundreds  of  Parisians  visited  the  Cirque  de  Paris, 
all  bringing  gifts  of  food,  drink,  or  clothing.  It 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

was  a  pathetic  and  at  the  same  time  a  cheering  sight 
to  watch  the  refugees  hungrily  eating  the  midday 
meal  which  their  French  sympathizers  had  helped 
to  provide.  These  refugees,  many  of  whom  carry 
babies  in  arms,  will  probably  be  sent  into  Normandy 
and  Brittany  to  be  cared  for. 


[123] 


Thursday,  August  27. 

TWENTY-FIFTH  day  of  the  war.  Rain,  severe 
thunderstorm  at  noon,  northwesterly  wind.  Tem- 
perature at  five  P.  M.  17  degrees  centigrade. 

The  huge  German  army,  making  its  desperate 
struggle  to  invade  France  at  many  points  from 
Maubeuge  to  the  Vosges,  is  still  held  in  check. 
Meanwhile  the  hand  of  fate,  in  the  shape  of  the 
gigantic  "  Russian  steam-roller  ",  steadily  advances 
in  East  Prussia.  Cossacks  have  penetrated  to 
within  two  hundred  miles  of  Berlin. 

Minister  of  War  Millerand  has  revived  the  daily 
meetings  of  heads  of  departments  at  the  War 
Office.  To-day  the  defensive  condition  of  Paris 
was  discussed.  Work  already  in  progress,  under 
the  supervision  of  General  Gallieni,  is  pushed  for- 
ward rapidly  and  methodically,  and  obstructions 
to  artillery  fire  are  being  cleared  away  in  the  sub- 
urbs. 

I  rambled  this  morning  through  the  so-called 
German  quarter  of  Paris  around  the  Rue  d'Haute- 
ville  and  between  the  main  boulevards  and  the  Rue 

[124] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Lafayette.  All  the  German  and  Austrian  teutons 
shops  and  places  of  business  are  closed.  The  bras- 
series, where  the  best  Munich  or  Pilsener  beer,  with 
wiener  schnitzel  or  leber-knoedel  suppe  could  be 
obtained  until  the  end  of  July,  are  invisible  behind 
signless  iron  shutters.  The  "  intelligence  section  " 
of  the  German  general  staff  had  for  years  obtained 
precious  military  information  through  the  enter- 
prising, affable  German  commercial  agents,  res- 
taurant keepers,  commission  merchants,  waiters, 
and  hotel  errand  boys  (chasseurs)  who  thrived  in  this 
thrifty  quarter. 

A  wounded  sergeant  of  a  Highland  regiment,  in 
talking  yesterday  with  an  American  friend  of  mine 
at  Amiens  station,  bitterly  denounced  the  German 
practice  of  concealing  their  advance  by  driving 
along  in  front  of  them  numbers  of  refugee  women 
and  children.  The  Scottish  sergeant  said :  "  Our 
battalion  was  badly  cut  up.  We  were  using  our 
machine  guns  to  repel  a  German  advance.  Sud- 
denly we  saw  a  lot  of  women  and  children  coming 
along  the  road  towards  us.  Our  officers  ordered  us 
to  cease  firing.  The  refugees  came  pouring  through 
our  lines.  Immediately  behind  them,  however, 
were  the  German  riflemen,  who  suddenly  opened 

[125] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

fire  on  us  at  short  range  with  terrible  effect.  Had 
it  not  been  for  this  dastardly  trick  of  shoving 
women  and  children  ahead  of  them  at  the  points  of 
their  bayonets,  we  might  have  wiped  out  this 
German  rifle  battalion  that  attacked  us,  but  in- 
stead of  that,  we  were  driven  back.  Damn  these 
Germans!  "  With  these  words  the  Scottish  ser- 
geant, his  right  arm  shattered  from  shoulder  to 
elbow,  climbed  into  the  train  of  British  wounded 
and  was  carried  off  towards  Rouen. 

A  number  of  French  wounded  soldiers  from  the 
Northern  Army  arrived  in  Paris  during  the  night 
and  were  sent  to  the  Military  Hospital,  Rue  des 
Recollets,  to  the  Hospital  of  Saint-Louis,  and  to  a 
hospital  installed  in  the  College  Rollin.  Among 
them  were  a  number  slightly  wounded,  but  very 
few  severely.  Their  spirit  seems  excellent,  and  all 
agree  that  few  were  killed  considering  the  number 
of  wounded. 

All  promise  to  obey  orders  more  closely  when  they 
are  well  and  back  hi  the  firing  line,  and  not  to  be 
too  rash.  Rashness  and  too  great  anxiety  to  get 
at  the  foe  seem,  indeed,  to  have  been  the  cause  of  a 
great  many  casualties. 

[126] 


Friday,  August  28. 

TWENTY-SIXTH  day  of  the  war.  Bright,  clear 
weather  with  northeasterly  breezes.  Temperature 
at  five  P.  M.  20  degrees  centigrade. 

I  saw,  in  the  Rue  Franklin,  M.  Georges  Clemen- 
geau,  the  veteran  demolisher  of  cabinets,  and  for- 
mer Prime  Minister,  who  in  his  youthful  days 
was  a  mayor  of  the  eighteenth  arrondissement  of 
Paris,  the  turbulent  Montmartre  quarter.  M. 
Clemengeau  severely  criticizes  the  new  Viviani 
Cabinet.  "  Viviani,"  said  he,  "  asked  me  twice  to 
form  part  of  it.  I  declined  because,  in  addition  to 
personal  reasons,  the  Ministry  did  not  seem  to  me 
to  realize  the  elements  of  power  and  action  required 
by  this  war.  Having  this  opinion,  it  would  not  be 
fair  either  to  Viviani  or  to  myself  to  enter  into  a 
combination  where  I  should  have  to  assume  the 
responsibility  for  acts  that  to  my  mind  would  not 
adequately  meet  the  emergency.  Under  the  cir- 
cumstances, there  are  only  three  ministers  that 
count  for  anything;  those  of  war,  foreign  affairs, 
and  finance."  M.  Clemengeau  said:  "  There  must 

[127] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

be  something  wrong  with  the  mobilization  scheme, 
because  when  our  troops  were  outnumbered  at  the 
front,  there  were  great  quantities  of  young  officers 
and  men  who  for  ten  days  had  been  awaiting,  at 
their  various  points  of  assembly,  orders  to  join  their 
corps,  and  at  the  last  moment  were  told  to  go 
home." 

On  the  other  hand,  M.  Millerand,  Minister  of 
War,  has  visited  General  Joffre  at  the  army  head- 
quarters and  returned  to  Paris  to-night  "  very 
satisfied  with  the  situation." 

I  took  a  spin  in  an  automobile  to-day  to  Ver- 
sailles, and  thence  to  Buc  with  its  red  brick  aero- 
drome tower,  sheds,  and  long  rows  of  hangars. 
Here  were  groups  of  airmen  in  the  rough,  service- 
able French  sapper  uniform  —  loose-fitting  blue 
coat,  blue  trousers  with  a  double  red  stripe,  blue 
flannel  scarf  about  their  necks,  as  if  they  had  all 
got  sore  throats,  and  blue  pointed  forage  caps. 
Here  is  Chevillard,  that  wonderful  gymnast  of  the 
air.  There  is  Verrier,  and  here,  driving  a  sporting- 
looking  car,  is  Carpentier,  whose  more  familiar 
costume  is  a  pair  of  white  slips  and  a  pair  of  four- 
ounce  gloves.  For  Carpentier  has  been  mobilized, 
too.  Instead  of  making  thousands  of  dollars  this 

[128] 


Etienne  Alexandre  Millerand,  Minister  of  War,  August  27,  1914. 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

month  by  his  fight  with  Young  Ahearn,  and  pos- 
sibly other  matches  with  Bombardier  Wells  and 
Gunboat  Smith,  he,  too,  is  on  the  pay  list  of  the 
army  at  next  to  nothing  a  day.  He  is  attached  to 
the  flying  center  as  a  chauffeur,  and  that  car  he  is 
driving  is  his  own,  only  he  cannot  take  it  out  with- 
out orders  now. 

Morning  and  evening  they  fly  at  Buc.  They  are 
constantly  testing  new  machines,  and  then,  when 
they  have  tested  them,  they  fly  off  to  the  army  on 
the  eastern  frontier,  or  to  Amiens,  perhaps.  The 
other  day  a  pilot  even  flew  to  Antwerp  right  across 
the  German  lines  over  the  heads  of  the  German 
army,  but  so  high  up  that  they  never  even  guessed 
he  was  there.  Then  they  practise  bomb-dropping, 
too,  and  they  are  always  on  the  alert  for  a  pos- 
sible Zeppelin  raid  on  Paris.  The  other  night  a 
wireless  message  reached  the  Eiffel  Tower  from 
the  frontier  that  one  had  started.  It  was  mid- 
night, and  instantly  the  alarm  was  given  at 
Buc.  The  airmen  sleep  in  the  hangars  there,  and 
in  five  minutes  they  had  their  machines  wheeled 
out. 

By  the  light  of  lanterns  you  could  see  mechanics 
running  to  and  fro.  The  airmen  themselves  were 

[129] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

hurriedly  putting  on  helmets  and  woollen  gloves 
and  leather  coats,  for  it  is  cold  work  hunting  air- 
ships at  midnight.  Their  little  armory  of  bombs 
was  quickly  overhauled,  and  the  belt  of  the  machine 
gun  that  the  man  in  the  passenger's  seat  uses  — 
the  "  syringe  "  as  they  call  it  —  was  filled,  and  the 
engines  were  set  running  to  see  that  they  were  all 
right.  But  it  was  a  false  alarm  after  all,  for,  al- 
though a  close  lookout  was  kept  everywhere  be- 
tween Paris  and  the  frontier  for  the  adventurous 
Zeppelin,  and  a  hundred  guns  were  craning  up  into 
the  sky  ready  for  her  if  she  hove  in  sight,  she 
never  came,  and  the  tired  airmen  turned  in 
again  to  snatch  a  little  sleep  before  morning 
parade. 

Constantly  airmen  fly  off  to  the  front.  Those 
who  have  been  there  say  that  the  supply  trains 
and  the  whole  service  is  working  splendidly.  They 
have  organized  a  new  sport  among  the  air-scouts. 
Every  day,  at  the  end  of  the  day's  reconnoitring, 
the  airmen  count  the  bullet-holes  in  the  wings  and 
body  of  their  machines.  The  aeroplane  that  has 
the  most  is  the  cock  machine  of  the  squadrilla  — 
six  in  the  squadrilla  —  and  holds  the  title  until 
some  one  gets  a  bigger  peppering  and  displaces  him. 

[130] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

They  are  very  jealous  of  this  distinction,  and  the 
counting  has  to  be  very  carefully  carried  out  by  an 
impartial  jury,  for  the  cock  aeroplane  has  the  honor 
of  carrying  the  mascot  of  the  squadrilla. 


[131 


Saturday,  August  29. 

TWENTY  -  SEVENTH  day  of  the  war.  Sultry 
weather,  with  light  northerly  breezes.  Tempera- 
ture at  five  P.  M.  26  degrees  centigrade. 

"  Hold  tight!  "  Such  is  the  watchword  given  by 
the  French  Government,  and  French  and  British 
soldiers  are  holding  tight  for  all  they  are  worth 
against  the  slowly  advancing  German  armies. 
Heavy  fighting  all  along  the  lines  from  the  Somme 
to  the  Vosges  continues  without  a  break.  The 
Prussian  Guard  Corps  and  the  Tenth  German  Army 
Corps  have  been  driven  back  to  Guise,  in  the  de- 
partment of  the  Aisne  (one  hundred  and  ninety 
kilometers  from  Paris),  but  on  the  French  left  the 
Germans  have  fought  their  way  to  La  Fere  (north- 
west of  Laon,  about  one  hundred  and  forty  kilo- 
meters from  Paris).  In  the  eastern  theater  of  the 
war,  Koenigsberg  has  been  invested  by  the  Russians 
under  Rennenkampf,  who  continue  their  advance 
towards  Berlin. 

Paris  begins  to  realize  that  the  war  is  coming  closer 
to  them,  b.y  the  following  official  announcement: 

[132] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

* 

DEFENCES  OF  PARIS 

The  Military  Governor  of  Paris,  in  view  of  the  urgent 
military  requirements,  has  decided: 

1.  Within  a  delay  of  four  full  days,  starting  from  August 
80,  all  proprietors,  occupants,  and  tenants  of  all  descriptions 
of  houses  and  buildings  situated  in  the  military  zone  of  old 
and  new  forts  must  evacuate  and  demolish  the  aforesaid 
houses  and  buildings. 

2.  In  the  event  of  these  instructions  not  being  fulfilled 
within  the  prescribed  delay,  these  houses  and  buildings  will 
be  immediately  demolished  by  military  authority  and  the 
materials  taken  away. 

The  Military  Governor  of  Paris,  Commander  of 
the  Armies  of  Paris. 

(Signed)  GALLIENI. 

General  Pau,  the  gallant  one-armed  general  who 
commands  the  French  Army  of  the  East,  arrived 
in  Paris  at  four  o'clock  this  afternoon,  but  the 
reason  for  his  visit  is  naturally  kept  secret.  He 
had  a  conference  at  the  Ministry  of  War  with  M. 
Millerand.  He  called  for  a  few  moments  at  his 
residence  in  the  Boulevard  Raspail.  General  Pau's 
son,  a  sub-lieutenant  of  infantry,  is  lying  wounded 
at  the  hospital  at  Troyes.  General  Pau  had  an 
informal  conversation  with  President  foincare  at 
the  Elysee  Palace,  and  leaves  again  for  the  front 
to-morrow  morning. 

[133] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Refugees  from  Belgium  and  northern  France 
continue  to  pour  into  Paris.  But  the  authorities, 
having  had  time  to  organize,  are  sending  them  on 
with  very  little  delay  to  various  places  in  the  west 
and  south  of  France. 

It  is  impossible  to  prevent  these  frightened  people 
from  taking  refuge  in  Paris,  which  they  regard  as 
a  place  of  safety,  and  the  only  course  open  is  to 
send  them  on  as  soon  as  possible. 

Among  the  financial  victims  of  the  war  are  a 
number  of  Chinese  students  who  have  found  their 
supplies  of  money  from  home  suddenly  cut  off.  A 
body  of  about  sixty  went  to  the  Chinese  Legation 
in  the  Rue  de  Babylone  on  Friday  evening,  and 
clamored  for  money. 

The  Minister,  Mr.  Liu  Shih-shen,  was  out  but,  to 
the  great  disgust  of  the  staff,  the  students  invaded 
the  dining-room  and  kitchen  and  commandeered 
the  dinner  which  was  being  prepared  for  the  Minis- 
ter. 

A  message  was  sent  to  his  Excellency,  who  dined 
at  a  restaurant.  Meanwhile  the  students,  having 
dined,  began  to  gamble,  and  several  made  prepara- 
tions to  spend  the  night  in  the  Legation.  They 
were,  however,  expelled  by  the  police. 

[134] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

At  the  meeting  of  the  women's  auxiliary  of  the 
American  Ambulance  at  the  Embassy  this  after- 
noon, many  details  in  connection  with  the  estab- 
lishment and  maintenance  of  the  hospital  in  the 
Lycee  Pasteur  were  discussed. 

A  committee  was  appointed  for  the  special  pur- 
pose of  supplying  with  clothing  such  wounded  sol- 
diers as  may  be  brought  to  the  hospital. 

It  was  announced  that  Miss  Matthews  will  suc- 
ceed Miss  Cameron  as  the  chairman  of  the  sewing 
committee,  the  latter  having  been  called  to  America 
by  her  brother's  illness. 

Mrs.  W.  K.  Vanderbilt  has  offered  to  contribute 
many  articles  needed  in  the  installation  of  the  hos- 
pital, particularly  such  things  as  window  curtains 
and  other  furnishings  designed  to  make  the  insti- 
tution as  comfortable  as  possible  for  the  sufferers. 

For  just  four  weeks  now  the  American  Govern- 
ment has  been  advancing  money  to  citizens  in  need 
of  it  at  the  Embassy,  and  still  the  stream  of  appli- 
cants continues  in  about  the  same  proportions  as 
ever. 

The  undiminishing  demand  for  funds  is  due 
largely  to  the  fact  that  there  are  new  arrivals  in  the 
city  every  day,  but  Major  Cosby,  who  is  in  charge 

[135] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

of  the  distribution  of  the  money,  believes  that  with 
the  departure  of  the  Rochambeau  and  the  Flandre 
there  will  come  a  gradually  lessening  demand  for 
assistance. 

So  far  about  five  hundred  persons  have  received 
money,  and  the  total  paid  out  for  the  four  weeks 
is  62,100  francs.  This  represents  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  francs,  or  twenty-five  dollars, 
apiece. 

In  addition  to  the  Government  fund,  which  is 
paid  only  to  persons  who  accept  it  as  a  loan,  about 
twenty-seven  thousand  francs,  raised  here  in  Paris, 
has  been  given  outright  to  persons  who  for  various 
reasons  could  not  be  assisted  out  of  the  Government 
fund. 

Captain  Brinton  has  also  paid  out  from  sixty 
to  seventy  thousand  dollars  to  various  persons 
upon  cable  orders  from  the  Department  of  State 
in  Washington.  This  represents  a  purely  busi- 
ness transaction,  as  the  money  has  first  been  de- 
posited with  the  Government  by  friends  in  the 
United  States.  It  has,  however,  been  an  exceed- 
ingly practical  means  of  helping  persons  who  other- 
wise might  have  had  to  fall  back  on  the  relief  funds. 

[136] 


Sunday,  August  30. 

TWENTY  -  EIGHTH  day  of  the  war.  Sunny,  but 
sultry,  August  Sunday.  Light  northerly  breeze, 
thermometer  at  five  p.  M.  26  degrees  centigrade. 

No  let  up  in  the  fighting.  The  Germans  continue 
with  wonderful  tenacity  their  favorite  tactics  of 
rolling  up  their  forces  on  their  right,  and  then  en- 
veloping and  striving  to  turn  the  Anglo-French  left. 
The  French  left,  as  officially  announced  at  the  War 
Office,  has  been  forced  to  yield  ground.  But  the 
result  of  the  gigantic  battle  in  the  department  of 
the  Aisne  near  La  Fere,  Guise,  and  Laon,  on  the 
road  to  Paris,  still  hangs  in  the  balance. 

It  seems  pretty  certain  that  the  French  armies 
were  concentrated  too  far  to  the  east.  The  tempta- 
tion to  enter  Alsace,  where  strong  force  is  needless, 
was  too  great  for  the  then  war  minister,  M.  Messimy, 
to  withstand.  France  is  paying  for  this  now.  For 
over  twenty  years  it  was  an  open  secret  among 
military  authorities  that  the  main  German  attack 
upon  France  would  burst  in  through  Belgium  and 
the  northern  departments  of  France,  which  seem 

[137] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

to  have  been  left  without  adequate  fortifications. 
Here  is  France's  vulnerable  point.  For  France  to 
be  now  outnumbered  in  this  theater  of  the  war  is 
strong  evidence  of  her  also  being  out-generaled. 
While  the  French  have  wasted  needless  troops  in 
futile  excursions  beyond  the  Vosges  and  in  the 
Ardennes,  they  seem  to  have  been  blind  to  the 
tremendous  concentration  of  German  fighting 
strength  in  the  north.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
solid,  heroic  resistance  of  the  British  army  under 
Field-marshal  Sir  John  French,  on  the  extreme 
French  left  at  Mons  and  Cambrai,  it  is  very  likely 
that  the  French  would  have  sustained  a  crushing 
defeat.  That  the  French  should  be  outnumbered 
on  the  lines  near  La  Fere  seems  incomprehensible 
and  requires  satisfactory  explanation  from  the 
Ministry  of  War.  Further  proof  of  this  primary 
fault  is  forthcoming  in  the  proclamation  issued 
to-day,  calling  to  the  colors  the  1914  class,  some 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  young  men  of 
twenty,  due  to  join  the  army  in  October.  More- 
over, those  classes  of  the  reserves  of  the  territorial 
army  called  up  when  the  general  mobilization  order 
was  issued  and  for  some  unaccountable  reason 
actually  sent  home  again,  have  also  been  recalled. 

[138] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

In  broad  daylight,  at  1.15  this  afternoon,  the 
Germans  left  their  first  visiting-card  in  Paris. 
This  came  in  the  shape  of  three  bombs  dropped 
from  a  German  aeroplane,  that  made  a  curved  flight 
over  the  city  at  an  altitude  of  two  thousand  meters. 
The  first  bomb  fell  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  des 
Vinaigriers  and  the  Rue  du  Marais,  another  in  the 
Rue  des  Recollets,  and  a  third  near  an  asylum  for 
aged  workmen  on  the  Quai  Valmy.  The  airman 
also  let  fall  an  oriflamme,  two  and  a  half  meters  long, 
bearing  the  black  and  white  Prussian  colors,  bal- 
lasted by  sand  in  an  india-rubber  football,  at- 
tached to  which  was  a  letter,  written  in  German, 
which  ran  as  follows:  "The  German  Army  is  at 
the  gates  of  Paris.  The  only  thing  left  for  you  to 
do  is  to  surrender!  (Signed)  LIEUTENANT  VON 
HEIDSSEN." 

The  first  bomb  wounded  two  women,  one  of 
whom  died  of  her  injuries  at  the  hospital  shortly 
afterwards.  She  was  concierge  of  the  house  Number 
39  Rue  des  Vinaigriers.  No  other  damage  was  done. 
There  were  thousands  of  Parisians  promenading  the 
streets  at  the  time.  The  news  spread  like  wild-fire, 
but  no  panic,  nor  even  undue  excitement,  ensued; 
the  people  of  Paris  are  totally  different  to-day  from 

[139] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

what  they  were  in  1870.  Of  course  the  intention  of 
these  aeroplane  bomb-throwers,  of  whose  exploits 
we  shall  probably  hear  a  great  deal,  was  to  create 
a  panic  and  demoralize  the  inhabitants,  and  es- 
pecially to  terrify  women  and  children.  This  utterly 
failed.  After  dropping  the  three  bombs  and  his 
carte  de  visile,  the  German  aeroplane  vanished 
towards  the  east.  It  seems  strange  that  the  flo- 
tillas of  air-craft  at  Buc  were  thus  caught  napping 
and  allowed  the  German  air-lieutenant  to  escape. 

I  called  in  the  afternoon  upon  Madame  Wad- 
dington  and  her  sister,  Miss  King.  Madame  Wad- 
dington  was  anxious  about  her  grandchildren,  who 
are  at  their  country  place  not  far  from  Laon,  where 
the  battle  is  now  raging.  Madame  Waddington 
says  that  Mr.  Herrick,  whom  she  saw  this  morning, 
told  her  that  if  worse  came  to  the  worst,  the  seat 
of  government  would  probably  be  transferred  to 
Bordeaux. 

A  large  sum  in  gold  coin,  it  is  said,  has  been  taken 
from  the  vaults  of  the  Bank  of  France  and  sent  to 
Rennes.  Sharp  comment  is  elicited  by  an  incident 
at  the  Travellers  Club,  a  somewhat  select  resort 
of  Americans,  English,  and  other  foreigners,  in  the 
former  hotel  of  the  famous  beauty  of  the  Second 

[1401 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Empire,  Madame  de  Paiva,  in  the  Champs-Elysees. 
It  appears  that  a  wealthy  and  prominent  German 
by  birth,  but  naturalized  American,  Mr.  X.,  casually 
remarked  one  day  at  the  club  that  he  did  not  in- 
tend to  trouble  himself  to  get  a  permis  de  sejour 
(permission  to  reside  in  Paris),  because  "  when  the 
German  troops  arrived  in  the  capital,  these  papers 
would  no  longer  be  needed."  Mr.  X.  was  told  that 
if  he  persisted  in  expressing  such  views,  offensive 
to  the  members  of  the  club  and  to  the  hospitable 
city  in  which  the  club  was  situated,  his  resignation 
would  be  forthwith  accepted  by  the  house  com- 
mittee. Mr.  X.  paid  no  attention  to  the  warning, 
but  when  next  he  entered  the  club  —  a  few  days  after 
the  incident  —  he  was  informed  that  his  name  had 
been  stricken  from  the  list  of  members. 

M.  Adrien  Mithouard,  President  of  the  Municipal 
Council,  states  that  arrangements  were  made  months 
ago  to  store  a  large  quantity  of  flour  in  the  city,  so 
as  to  provide  the  civilian  inhabitants  with  bread. 
This  flour  is  in  the  hands  of  the  military  authori- 
ties, who  have  a  considerably  larger  supply  than 
was  originally  intended,  and  are  still  adding  to  it. 

There  will  be  no  lack  of  coal.  The  army  has 
accumulated  enormous  quantities,  and  the  Gas 

[141] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Company  has  enough  coal  for  five  months.  M. 
Mithouard  also  says  he  recently  made  a  personal 
investigation  of  the  water  supply,  and  found  that, 
even  if  the  aqueducts  were  cut,  the  city  would  have 
two  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  cubic  meters  of 
filtered  water  available  every  day  from  the  Ivry 
and  Saint-Maur  waterworks;  and  even  without 
these,  Paris  could  still  have  two  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  cubic  meters  a  day  chemically  purified. 

The  Municipal  Council  has  also  approved  a  pro- 
posal to  buy  up  certain  provisions  to  be  added  to  the 
necessaries  of  life  for  the  civilian  population. 

M.  Georges  Clemengeau,  the  "  parliamentary 
tiger,"  who,  although  remaining  outside  the  Cabinet, 
is  one  of  the  greatest  personal  forces  of  France,  has 
made  a  stirring  statement  to  Mr.  Somerville  Story, 
editor  of  the  Daily  Mail.  M.  Clemen geau  said: 

"  Yes,  their  guns  are  almost  within  sound  of 
Paris.  And  what  if  they  are?  What  if  we  were  yet 
to  be  defeated  again  and  again?  We  should  still  go 
on.  Let  them  burn  Paris  if  they  can.  Let  them 
wipe  it  out,  raze  it  to  the  level  of  the  ground.  We 
shall  still  fight  on. 

"This  is  not  my  personal  resolve  alone.  The 
Government,  too,  is  just  as  grimly  determined. 

[142] 


Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood,  N.  Y. 

Eiffel  Tower's  searchlight  to  reveal  bomb-throwing  air  craft 
and  air-scouts  of  the  Germans. 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Do  you  know,  it  is  strange  that  one  should  have 
been  able  to  come  to  feel  like  this,  but  the  Germans 
could  destroy  all  these  beautiful  places  that  I  love 
so  much;  they  may  blow  up  the  museums,  over- 
throw monuments  —  it  would  only  leave  me  still 
determined  to  fight  on. 

"  France  may  disappear,  if  you  like.  It  may  be 
called  Frankreich,  if  you  like.  We  may  be  driven 
back  to  the  very  Pyrenees.  It  will  not  abate  one 
fraction  our  vigor  and  our  decision. 

"  And  in  this  terrible  war  we  must  all  realize  how 
unutterably  great  are  the  stakes.  It  is  we  in  France 
and  our  friends  in  Belgium  who  are  doomed  to 
suffer  the  most  bitterly.  England  will  be  spared 
much  that  we  must  endure.  But  we  must  all  make 
sacrifices  almost  beyond  reckoning.  We  are  fight- 
ing for  the  dignity  of  humanity.  We  are  fighting 
for  the  right  of  civilization  to  continue  to  exist. 
We  are  fighting  so  that  nations  may  continue  to  live 
in  Europe  without  being  under  the  heel  of  another 
nation.  It  is  a  great  cause;  it  is  worthy  of  great 
sacrifices. . 

"  I  say  this  to  convince  you  of  the  unbreakable 
spirit  of  the  French  nation. 

"  But  the  situation  is  not  yet  so  grave.  We  knew 
[143] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

our  frontier  would  be  invaded  somewhere.  We 
have  many  troops  in  reserve  for  the  big  battle  that 
will  follow  this  one. 

"  The  Germans  cannot  besiege  or  invest  Paris. 
Its  size  is  too  vast.  Its  defence  will  be  assisted  by 
the  armies  now  fighting  on  the  Oise,  seventy  miles 
away. 

"  The  fortifications  of  Paris  are  by  no  means  the 
feeble  things  they  were  in  1870.  From  the  Eiffel 
Tower  we  can  control  the  movements  in  co-opera- 
tion with  our  armies  in  the  provinces  of  France. 

"  The  situation  is  in  no  way  desperate,  although 
the  Germans  have  invaded  France.  France  will 
fight  on  and  on  until  this  attempt  to  establish 
tyranny  in  Europe  is  overthrown." 


[144] 


Monday,  August  31. 

TWENTY  -  NINTH  day  of  the  war.  Hot,  some- 
what hazy,  summer  weather,  with  faint  northerly 
wind.  Thermometer  at  five  P.  M.  27  degrees  cen- 
tigrade. 

Kaiser  William,  who  it  appears  was  on  the  field 
during  the  battle  of  Charleroi,  is  pressing  forward 
in  hot  haste,  regardless  of  consequences,  on  the 
road  to  Paris,  close  behind  the  steel-tipped  elite  of 
his  vast  armies,  consisting  of  the  Royal  Prussian 
Guard  Corps  and  the  famous  Third  Army  Corps. 
To-morrow  will  be  the  anniversary  of  the  Battle  of 
Sedan.  The  "Mailed  Fist"  is  doing  his  best  to 
celebrate  it  by  leading  his  legions  to  Paris.  It  is 
daredevil  desperation  that  spurs  him  on,  for  no- 
where, as  yet,  have  the  Franco-British  armies  been 
broken  through,  and  they  continue  to  present  succes- 
sive stone  walls  to  the  Teuton  invasion,  and  oppose 
every  inch  of  ground  with  dogged  tenacity.  The  allied 
left  wing  has  been  forced  —  always  by  the  tradi- 
tional enveloping  tactics  on  their  right  —  to  retreat, 
but  they  do  so  sullenly  and  in  good  order,  making 

[145] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

the  Germans  pay  dearly  for  every  step  gained.  The 
battle  is  raging  continuously,  and  much  depends 
upon  which  side  first  receives  strong  re-enforce- 
ments to  fill  up  the  gaps  made  by  tremendous  losses. 
The  Russian  advance  in  East  Prussia,  according  to 
accounts  from  Brussels,  has  already  forced  the 
Germans  to  send  back  to  Berlin  from  their  center 
at  least  one  army  corps. 

There  is  hurry  and  skurry  all  day  long  among 
Parisians  and  foreign  residents  to  get  away  from 
Paris  to  more  peaceful  towns  in  the  south  and  west. 
The  railway  stations  are  so  crowded  that  it  is  almost 
impossible,  at  the  Gare  of  Saint-Lazare  or  at  the 
Quai  d'Orsay  to  get  anywhere  near  the  booking 
office.  Motor-cabs  are  being  hired  at  extravagant 
prices  to  convey  families  to  Tours,  Orleans,  Le 
Mans,  or  Bordeaux.  The  bearing  of  the  public 
however  by  no  means  resembles  that  of  "  nerves," 
and  less  still  a  panic. 

I  lunched  to-day  with  Mr.  Hulme  Beaman,  cor- 
respondent of  the  London  Standard,  and  his  charm- 
ing wife,  who  live  just  across  the  way  from  me,  in 
the  Boulevard  de  Courcelles.  Mr.  Beaman  passed 
Sunday  at  Poissy,  where  he  usually  goes  fishing  for 
gudgeon.  At  Acheres,  the  junction  of  the  lines  from 

[146] 


ial  News  Service.' 

Wounded  French  soldiers  returning  to  Paris  with  trophies  from 
the  battlefields. 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Picardy  and  Belgium,  he  saw  train  after  train  filled 
with  wounded  French  soldiers,  who  seemed  in  good 
spirits  and  who,  in  spite  of  their  suffering,  were 
burning  to  get  back  again  to  the  front. 

Another  German  air-lieutenant  made  a  flight  over 
Paris  this  afternoon  and  dropped  two  bombs  near 
the  Notre  Dame  Cathedral,  but  caused  no  damage; 
one  of  the  projectiles  fell  into  the  Seine.  The  air- 
man also  tossed  into  Paris  a  German  flag,  to  which 
was  tied  a  postal  card  calling  upon  Paris  to  sur- 
render. Groups  watched  the  aeroplane,  which 
never  came  lower  than  fifteen  hundred  meters,  and 
women  and  children  seemed  rather  amused  at  the 
sight. 

A  fugitive  from  Belgium,  who  was  at  Louvain 
shortly  before  the  wilful  destruction  of  the  once 
beautiful  university  town,  tells  a  curious  story  of  a 
Dutchman  who  had  a  thrilling  escape  on  the  arrival 
of  the  Germans.  He  rushed  for  the  Dutch  flag, 
which,  in  his  nervousness,  he  hoisted  outside  his  door 
upside  down.  This  then  represented  the  French 
flag,  and  the  Dutchman,  who  spoke  no  German, 
was  immediately  seized  by  the  enemy  and  ordered 
to  be  shot.  He  was  placed  upright  against  a  wall 
and  was  about  to  be  riddled  with  bullets  when  his 

[147] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

employer  rushed  up  and  told  the  Germans  that  they 
were  going  to  shoot  a  Dutchman,  which  saved  his 
life. 

General  Gallieni,  Governor  of  Paris,  has  issued  a 
decree  prohibiting  newspapers  to  publish  "  spread- 
head  "  lines  extending  over  two  columns  in  width. 
The  news  vendors  are  not  allowed  to  shout  out  the 
news,  or  even  the  names  of  the  papers  on  the  streets. 
The  type  of  head-lines  must  not  be  of  alarming  size. 
In  fact,  a  world-wide  war  was  required  to  check 
the  march  of  the  sensational  Paris  "  yellow " 
press. 

The  Minister  of  War  has  suppressed  sauf-conduits 
for  travelers  leaving  Paris  by  rail,  but  they  must 
be  provided  with  proper  identification  papers.  The 
laisser-passer,  delivered  by  the  Prefecture  of  Police, 
is  still  required  however  for  all  who  leave  Paris  by 
automobile. 

The  American  committee,  in  a  circular  to  Ameri- 
cans, signed  by  Judge  Elbert  H.  Gary,  chairman, 
and  H.  Herman  Harjes,  secretary,  gives  a  warning 
against  sensational  reports  about  the  "  imminent 
occupation  "  of  the  city  by  the  Germans,  but  ex- 
presses the  opinion  that "  it  would  be  wise  for  Ameri- 
cans who  cannot  be  of  special  service  during  the 

[148] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

war,  or  who  are  not  required  to  remain  by  their 
business  or  professional  interests,  to  leave  the  city 
in  an  orderly  and  quiet  way,  whenever  reasonable 
opportunity  is  offered." 


149] 


Tuesday,  September  1. 

THIRTIETH  day  of  the  war,  and  forty -fourth  anni- 
versary of  the  Battle  of  Sedan.  Oppressive  sultry 
weather,  with  northeasterly  wind.  Thermometer 
at  five  P.  M.  23  degrees  centigrade. 

The  War  Office  communique  to-night  states  that: 
"  on  our  left  wing,  in  consequence  of  the  enveloping 
movement  of  the  Germans  and  with  the  object  of 
not  entering  into  a  decisive  action  under  bad  con- 
ditions, our  troops  have  fallen  back,  some  towards 
the  south  and  others  towards  the  southwest.  The 
action  which  took  place  in  the  district  of  Rethel  has 
enabled  our  forces  to  stop  the  enemy  for  the  time 
being.  In  the  center  and  on  the  right  (Woevre, 
Lorraine,  and  the  Vosges),  there  is  no  change  in  the 
situation." 

This  means  that  Emperor  William  is  hacking 
his  way  still  nearer  to  Paris.  The  failure  however  to 
realize  his  boast  that  he  would  celebrate  the  anni- 
versary of  Sedan  by  appearing  within  striking  dis- 
tance of  the  French  capital  may  indicate  that  the 
turning  point  of  this  phase  of  the  war  is  near  at  hand. 

[150] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

The  allied  troops  north  of  Paris  have  established 
themselves  in  a  fighting  position  more  favorable 
than  that  into  which  an  attempt  was  made  to  draw 
them.  The  dam  still  holds  good,  and  breaches  are 
being  repaired. 

The  people  of  Paris  are  quite  calm,  in  spite  of  false 
rumors  and  of  pyrotechnics  aloft  executed  by  the 
German  taubes. 

At  quarter  past  five  this  afternoon,  I  was  walking 
across  the  Place  de  la  Bourse  to  file  a  cable  message 
to  the  New  York  Tribune.  I  heard  a  loud  explosion, 
followed  by  clashing  of  broken  glass.  A  projectile 
had  fallen  a  hundred  yards  distant  and  hit  the  top 
of  a  house  in  the  Rue  de  Hanovre.  The  pompiers 
were  on  the  spot  within  three  minutes,  having  been 
summoned  by  the  fire-alarm  box  near  the  Bourse. 
No  serious  damage  was  done,  but  little  lead  pellets 
were  found  in  profusion.  When  I  heard  the  ex- 
plosion, I  looked  up  and  saw  an  aeroplane  at  an 
altitude  of  about  fourteen  hundred  meters  vanishing 
towards  the  northeast.  It  was  pale  yellow,  and 
white  near  the  after  part.  It  was  a  German  taube. 
A  sand-bag  with  a  German  Uhlan's  pennant  was 
dropped,  bearing  a  card  reminding  Parisians  that  it 
was  "  the  anniversary  of  Sedan,  that  they  would  soon 

,[151] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

be  obliged  to  surrender  the  city,  and  that  the  Rus- 
sians had  been  crushed  on  the  Prussian  frontier." 
Another  bomb  had  been  dropped  on  the  roof  of 
Number  29  Rue  du  Mail  and  broke  into  an  empty 
room,  but  did  not  explode.  A  third  bomb  fell  on  a 
schoolhouse  in  the  Rue  Colbert;  ricochetting  off  the 
wall,  it  fell  into  a  courtyard,  where  it  exploded  and 
made  a  hole  in  the  ground.  Other  bombs  were 
dropped  in  the  Rue  de  Londres  and  in  the  Rue  de  la 
Condamine;  the  last  one  injured  a  woman  and  a 
little  girl,  who  were  hit  in  the  chest  and  head  by 
fragments  of  the  projectile.  As  the  taube  passed 
over  the  Pepiniere  barracks,  and  the  Place  de 
TOpera,  at  an  altitude  of  perhaps  twelve  hundred 
meters,  some  soldiers  fired  at  it  with  their  rifles, 
but  without  effect.  The  German  air-lieutenants 
have  so  far  avoided  the  Eiffel  Tower,  where  machine 
guns  are  placed. 

The  War  Office  announces  that  a  flotilla  of  ar- 
mored aeroplanes  provided  with  machine  guns  has 
been  organized  to  attack  the  German  aeroplanes 
that  fly  over  Paris.  Spectacular  sights  are  thus  in 
store  for  us. 

The  American  committee,  constituted  by  the 
American  Ambassador  and  including  some  of  the 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

most  eminent  Americans  residing  in  Paris  on  the 
day  of  the  declaration  of  war,  has  requested  the 
Minister  of  War  to  supply  it  with  formal  proofs  of 
the  fact  that  the  bombs  which  have  fallen  in  Paris 
were  thrown  from  a  German  aeroplane. 

M.  Millerand,  in  response  to  this  request,  has 
submitted  to  the  American  Ambassador  and  two 
delegates  from  the  committee  the  complete  "  dos- 


sier." 


The  Ambassador,  after  having  examined  the  evi- 
dence submitted  to  him,  and  to  the  members  of  the 
committee,  decided  to  cable  a  report  to  his  Govern- 
ment concerning  these  methods  of  warfare,  which 
are  not  only  acts  against  humanity,  but,  further, 
are  in  absolute  violation  of  The  Hague  Convention, 
signed  by  Germany  herself. 

The  committee  has  also  decided  to  ask  the  Ameri- 
can Government,  while  remaining  loyal  to  its  decla- 
ration of  neutrality,  to  make  a  strong  protest  to 
the  German  Government. 

The  Minister  of  War  has  issued  a  decree  calling 
up  territorial  reservists  of  all  classes  in  the  north 
and  northeastern  districts  of  France,  not  yet  with 
the  colors. 

The  French  "  left  wing  ",  which,  as  foreseen  more 
[153] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

than  twenty  years  ago,  must  be  the  vulnerable  spot 
in  the  defence  of  Paris,  will  very  likely  be  forced  to 
retire  still  nearer  to  the  capital.  In  that  case,  a 
battle  would  be  likely  under  the  shelter  of  the  Paris 
forts,  which  encircle  the  city  at  from  thirty  to  forty 
kilometers  from  the  Notre  Dame.  This  belt  of 
forts,  connected  by  three  lines  of  formidable  en- 
trenchments and  rifle  pits,  now  being  dug,  not  only 
by  the  troops,  but  by  thousands  of  Paris  workmen 
out  of  regular  employment,  make  a  circumference 
of  two  hundred  kilometers,  or  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  miles.  This  line  of  defence  would 
protect  Paris  and  also  a  field  army  with  all  its  own 
resources,  and  probably  make  it  impossible  for  the 
Germans  to  completely  invest  the  city,  as  they  did 
in  1870.  Meanwhile  the  allied  armies  outside  of 
Paris  would  be  able  to  keep  the  rest  of  the  German 
armies  "  busy  ",  and  threaten  the  long  line  of  Ger- 
man communications.  Paris  would  thus  be  able  to 
hold  out  for  a  long  time.  The  Germans  would 
obtain  food  supplies  from  the  rich  country  that  they 
occupy,  but  their  supplies  of  ammunition,  and  of 
men  to  fill  gaps  in  the  fighting  units  of  the  first  line, 
must  become  precarious.  Meanwhile  the  Russian 
"  steam-roller  "  is  moving  towards  Berlin. 

[154] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

At  six  o'clock  this  evening  the  following  decree 
was  issued  by  the  Prefecture  of  Police: 

"By  order  of  the  Military  Governor  of  Paris, 
no  civilian  automobile  carriage  will  be  allowed  to 
leave  Paris  from  to-day.  This  order  has  been  im- 
mediately enforced." 

Streams  of  people  from  the  regions  to  the  north  of 
Paris  within  the  sphere  of  the  German  operations 
are  swarming  into  Paris,  bringing  their  belongings 
with  them.  I  saw  a  train  pull  slowly  into  the  Gare 
du  Nord  laden  with  about  fifteen  hundred  peasants 
—  old  men,  women,  children  —  encumbered  with 
bags,  boxes^  bundles,  fowls,  and  provisions  of  vari- 
ous kinds.  The  station  is  strewn  with  straw,  on 
which  country  folk  fleeing  from  the  Germans  are 
soundly  sleeping  for  the  first  time  in  many  days. 
These  refugees  are  being  shunted  on  to  the  chemin 
de  fer  de  ceinture  and  proceed  around  the  city  to 
other  stations,  from  which  they  are  transported 
towards  the  south. 

Tens  of  thousands  of  Parisians  throng  the  rail- 
way stations,  seeking  their  turn  to  buy  tickets  to 
points  outside  the  city.  At  the  Gare  de  Lyon, 
Montparnasse,  d'Orsay,  d'Orleans,  people  are  stand- 
ing in  lines  ten  abreast  and  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in 

[155] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

length,  waiting  for  hours  and  hours  to  book  for 
Bordeaux,  Biarritz,  Brest,  Rennes,  or  Nantes. 
Some  of  these  people  have  waited  from  seven  in  the 
morning  until  three  in  the  afternoon  to  obtain 
tickets. 

If  matters  get  worse,  President  Poincare  and  the 
Ministry  will  establish  themselves  at  Bordeaux. 
Ambassador  Herrick  intends  to  remain  in  Paris,  as 
Minister  Elihu  Washburne  did  in  1870.  He  will 
delegate  a  secretary  to  represent  the  United  States 
Embassy  at  the  seat  of  government.  Perhaps 
Mr.  Sharp,  the  newly  appointed  Ambassador,  might 
be  utilized  for  this  purpose. 

A  convoy  of  one  hundred  and  forty  British  sol- 
diers, wounded  in  the  recent  fighting  in  the  Aisne 
Department,  arrived  at  nine  o'clock  this  morning 
at  the  Gare  du  Nord. 

Most  of  them  were  shot  in  the  legs  and  arms,  but 
in  spite  of  their  sufferings,  none  of  them  showed  the 
least  sign  of  being  broken  in  spirit.  As  they  were 
transported  from  the  train,  there  were  touching 
demonstrations  of  sympathy  from  the  crowd,  which 
the  wounded  men  acknowledged  to  the  best  of  their 
ability. 

By  a  pretty  little  attention  on  the  part  of  the  Red 
[156] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Cross  workers  in  Chantilly,  all  the  men  wore  a 
flower  and  had  been  the  recipients  of  refreshments 
and  fair  words  of  encouragement. 

There  was  quite  a  procession  of  wounded  of  vari- 
ous nationalities  at  the  station,  and  scenes  were 
witnessed  which  caused  the  tears  to  start  in  many 
eyes.  A  group  of  Belgian  soldiers,  including  several 
wounded,  encountered  the  British  convoy  on  their 
arrival,  and  hearty  handshakes  were  exchanged. 

Half  an  hour  after  the  arrival  of  the  British 
wounded,  a  party  of  thirty  Turcos  wounded  in  the 

battle  of  Guise  came  in  and  were  in  turn  accorded 

• 

an  ovation.  According  to  one  of  the  men,  they 
fought  for  nine  days  and  nights  without  a  break, 
but  were  gratified  in  the  end  by  beating  back  the 
enemy.  With  one  voice  they  declared  that  they 
are  impatient  to  get  back  again  into  the  fighting 
line. 

A  British  private,  wounded  in  the  leg  by  a  German 
shell,  described  the  fighting  around  Mons  on  Sunday 
week  as  "  terrific."  They  first  got  the  German 
shell  fire  quite  unexpectedly  near  the  railway  sta- 
tion. Two  of  their  battalions  marched  through  the 
streets  of  Mons  and  were  fired  on  from  house  win- 
dows by  the  Germans.  Some  of  the  German  shells, 

[157] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

he  said,  were  filled  with  broken  glass  and  emitted  a 
suffocating  gas  when  they  exploded. 

Mr.  Elbert  H.  Gary,  chairman  of  the  American 
Committee,  left  to-day  by  automobile  for  Havre, 
whence  he  expects  to  start  for  New  York  on  Satur- 
day on  the  France.  It  was  decided  at  the  meeting 
of  the  committee  yesterday  afternoon  that  Mr. 
Gary  should,  though  absent,  retain  the  chairman- 
ship, with  Mr.  H.  Herman  Harjes,  the  secretary, 
acting  as  presiding  officer.  Mr.  Lazo,  the  assistant 
secretary,  becomes  secretary  in  Mr.  Harjes'  place. 

Mr.  F.  E.  Drake,  Major  Clyde  M.  Hunt,  Mr. 
Henry  S.  Downe  and  Mr.  W.  H.  Ingram  were  added 
to  the  membership  of  the  committee. 


[158] 


Wednesday,  September  2. 

.THIRTY  -  FIRST  day  of  the  war.  Beautifully  clear 
weather,  cloudless  sky,  northeasterly  wind.  Tem- 
perature at  five  P.  M.  25  degrees  centigrade. 

German  prisoners  declare  that  Emperor  William 
has  made  it  known  to  every  soldier  that  his 
orders  are  to  "  take  Paris  or  die."  A  German 
cavalry  division  came  into  contact  with  British 
troops  yesterday  in  the  forest  of  Compiegne.  The 
British  captured  ten  field  guns.  But  the  right  wing 
of  the  German  army,  which  ever  since  the  battles 
of  Charleroi  and  Mons  has  enveloped  and  turned 
the  allied  left,  continues  its  advance.  The  allied 
troops  have  retired  partly  to  the  south  and  partly 
to  the  southwest.  A  great  battle  must  conse- 
quently take  place  within  the  range  of  the  Paris 
forts.  Work  on  the  entrenched  lines  connecting  the 
forts  is  actively  carried  out  and  is  said  to  give  every 
satisfaction.  The  positions,  believed  to  be  im- 
pregnable, are  strengthened  by  ingenious  arrange- 
ments of  barbed  wire.  It  is  reported  that  some  of 
this  barbed  entanglement  contains  live  wires  fed 
by  the  electric  batteries  of  the  defence. 

[159] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

In  a  stirring  editorial  in  his  newspaper  L'Homme 
Libre,  M.  Georges  Clemengeau  frankly  faces  the 
situation  now  that  "  the  Germans  are  close  to 
Paris."  He  adds:  "  We  have  left  open  the  approach 
to  Paris,  while  reserving  to  ourselves  flank  attacks 
on  the  enemy.  If  the  forts  do  their  duty,  this  move 
may  be  a  happy  one.  From  what  we  have  seen 
of  him,  General  Joffre  belongs  to  the  temporizing 
school.  At  this  moment  there  are  no  better  tactics. 
The  supreme  art  will  be  to  seize  the  instant  when 
temporization  must  give  way  to  a  carefully  prepared 
offensive  movement.  I  have  full  confidence  in 
General  Joffre." 

Lord  Kitchener  made  a  rapid  incognito  visit  to 
Paris  yesterday,  where  he  met  Field-marshal  Sir 
John  French.  As  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  Lord 
Kitchener  went  to  the  front  and  had  a  conference 
with  General  Joffre.  There  seems  to  be  no  doubt 
but  what  General  Joffre's  plans  have  the  heartiest 
approval  and  support  of  Lord  Kitchener.  French 
troops  from  the  eastern  theater  of  the  war  are  being 
brought  up  rapidly,  so  as  to  attack  the  German  lines 
of  communications,  possibly  near  Rethel.  Reen- 
forcements  are  coming  in  rapidly  from  England, 
and  a  large  new  army  has  formed,  at  Le  Mans, 

[160] 


Photo.  Henri  Manuel,  Paris. 

General  Joffre,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Allied  Armies  in 
France. 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

and  will  soon  be  ready  to  take  the  field  with  great 
effect. 

The  usual  six  o'clock  serenade  of  the  German 
air-lieutenants  this  afternoon  drew  forth  a  few 
rifle  shots  from  roofs  of  Paris  houses,  and  even  a 
quick-firing  gun  was  discharged  at  one  of  these 
taubes.  But  the  distance  was  too  great,  and  the 
two  German  aeroplanes  vanished  shortly  before 
seven  in  a  northerly  direction. 

This  evening  President  Poincare  and  the  French 
Government  removed  the  seat  of  government  from 
Paris  to  Bordeaux,  and  the  following  proclama- 
tion was  issued: 

Frenchmen, 

For  several  weeks,  during  desperate  fighting,  our  heroic 
troops  have  struggled  with  the  enemy's  army.  Our  sol- 
diers1 valiance  has  brought  them  marked  advantages  on 
several  points.  But  to  the  north  the  advance  of  the 
German  forces  has  compelled  us  to  draw  back. 

This  situation  imposes  on  the  President  of  the  Re- 
public and  the  Government  a  painful  decision.  To  safe- 
guard the  national  salvation,  the  public  powers  have  as  a 
duty  momentarily  to  leave  the  city  of  Paris. 

Under  the  command  of  an  eminent  leader,  a  French 
army,  full  of  courage  and  zest, -will  defend  the  capital 
and  its  patriotic  population  against  the  invader.  But 
the  war  must  be  pursued  at  the  same  time  over  the  rest 
of  the  land. 

[161] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Without  peace  or  truce,  without  halt  or  faltering,  the 
sacred  struggle  for  the  honor  of  the  nation  and  the  repa- 
ration of  violated  right  will  be  continued. 

None  of  our  armies  is  cut  into.  If  some  of  them  have 
undergone  losses  —  too  great  losses  —  the  vacant  places 
have  been  immediately  filled  by  the  depots,  and  the  call 
of  the  recruits  ensures  for  us  for  to-morrow  further  re- 
sources of  men  and  energies. 

Fight  and  stand  firm  —  such  must  be  the  watchword 
of  the  allied  armies,  British,  Russian,  Belgian,  and  French. 

Fight  and  stand  firm;  while  on  the  sea  the  British  help 
us  to  cut  our  enemy's  line  of  communications  with  the 
outside  world. 

Fight  and  stand  firm;  while  the  Russians  continue  to 
advance  to  strike  the  decisive  blow  in  the  heart  of  the 
German  Empire. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  of  the  Republic  to 
direct  this  stubborn  resistance. 

Frenchmen  will  rise  on  every  side  for  the  sake  of  in- 
dependence. But  in  order  that  this  formidable  struggle 
shall  be  conducted  as  efficaciously  and  with  as  much 
spirit  as  possible,  it  is  essential  that  the  Government 
should  be  left  free  to  act. 

At  the  request  of  the  military  authorities,  therefore,  the 
Government  will  be  temporarily  transferred  to  a  point 
in  French  territory  where  it  can  remain  in  constant  rela- 
tions with  the  whole  of  the  country. 

The  Government  requests  members  of  Parliament  not 
to  remain  too  distant  from  it,  in  order  that,  in  conjunction 
with  them  and  with  their  colleagues,  they  may  be  able  to 
form  a  solid  core  of  national  unity  in  the  face  of  the 
enemy. 

The  Government  leaves  Paris  only  after  having  as- 

[162] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

sured,  by  every  means  within  its  power,  the  defence  of  the 
city  and  the  entrenched  camp. 

It  knows  that  there  is  no  necessity  to  recommend  the 
admirable  population  of  Paris  to  remain  calm,  resolute, 
and  self-possessed.     Every  day  the  people  show  that  it 
is  equal  to  this  highest  duty. 
Frenchmen, 

Let  us  be  worthy  of  these  tragic  circumstances.  We 
shall  win  the  victory  finally. 

We  shall  win  it  by  untiring  will,  endurance,  and  te- 
nacity. 

A  nation  which  is  determined  not  to  perish,  and  which 
recoils  neither  before  suffering  nor  sacrifice,  is  sure  to 
conquer. 

This  proclamation  had  a  good  effect  on  the  popu- 
lation. 

The  wife  of  my  concierge  voiced  the  popular  sen- 
timent when  she  said  this  evening:  "Ah!  Monsieur! 
We  may  have  some  pretty  bad  quarts  d'heures  here, 
but  we  have  such  confidence  that  all  must  end  well, 
that  my  husband's  old  mother  and  our  little  children 
will  remain  in  Paris  with  us."  This  remark  was 
made  five  minutes  after  a  German  air-lieutenant 
had  flown  over  the  roof  of  the  houses  in  my  street, 
Rue  Theodule  Ribot,  and  had  dropped  near  the 
Pare  Monceau  a  bomb  that  made  a  terrific  noise, 
but  did  no  damage. 

[163] 


Thursday,  September  3. 

THIRTY  -  SECOND  day  of  the  war.  Dazzling  sun- 
shine, cloudless  sky,  and  light  northeasterly  wind. 
Thermometer  at  five  P.  M.  27  degrees  centigrade. 

The  forward  movement  of  the  Germans,  the 
"  Paris  or  Death  "  rush  of  the  Kaiser,  seems,  for 
a  moment  at  least,  to  have  come  to  a  standstill. 
Although  precautions  had  been  taken  in  expectation 
of  a  German  attack  from  the  region  of  Compiegne- 
Senlis,  no  contact,  says  the  French  official  com- 
muniquS,  occurred  to-day.  In  the  northeast  all  is 
reported  quiet. 

Disappointed  Parisians  scanned  the  sky  in  vain 
for  their  five  o'clock  taube.  A  marchand-de-vin  on 
the  famous  "  Butte  "  of  Montmartre  arranged  a 
tribune  with  numbered  seats  commanding  a  splen- 
did view  of  the  city.  Field-glasses  were  on  hand 
for  hire.  Orchestra  stalls  were  paid  for  at  the  rate 
of  ten  cents  a  seat.  The  performance  was  an- 
nounced to  begin  at  half-past  five.  This  worked 
very  well  yesterday,  when  the  evolutions  of  the  two 
German  air-lieutenants,  accompanied  by  pyrotechnic 

[164] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

display,  netted  a  lucrative  harvest.  To-day,  how- 
ever, the  enterprising  theatrical  manager  was  forced 
by  his  public  to  return  the  money  at  the  "  box 
office  ";  this  was  promptly  done,  the  performance 
"being  postponed."  The  postponement  was  due 
to  the  appearance  of  several  French  aeroplanes, 
which  evidently  had  been  sighted  by  the  Germans. 

Now  that  the  French  Government  has  gone  to 
Bordeaux  and  temporarily  transferred  the  capital 
to  Gascony,  the  only  heads  of  the  diplomatic  corps 
remaining  in  Paris  are  the  American  Ambassador; 
the  Spanish  Ambassador,  the  Marquis  de  Villa 
Urrutia;  the  Swiss  Minister,  M.  C.  Lardy;  the 
Danish  Minister,  M.  H.  A.  Bernhoft;  and  the  Nor- 
wegian Minister,  Baron  de  Wedel  Jarlsberg. 

That  American  property  may  be  safeguarded,  in 
the  extremely  improbable  event  of  an  occupation 
of  the  city  by  the  Germans,  Ambassador  Herrick 
requests  all  American  citizens  owning  or  leasing 
houses  or  apartments  in  the  city  of  Paris  or  its 
vicinity  to  register  their  names,  with  descriptions 
of  their  dwellings,  at  the  Embassy.  If  worse  comes 
to  the  worst,  notices  will  be  posted  on  American 
dwellings,  giving  them  the  protection  of  the  Ameri- 
can flag. 

[165] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Mr.  Robert  Bacon,  former  Ambassador  to  France, 
is  stopping  at  the  Hotel  de  Crillon  in  the  Place 
Vendome.  He  lunched  to-day  with  Mr.  Herrick, 
and  both  express  optimistic  views  of  the  situation 
from  military,  diplomatic,  and  financial  standpoints. 

My  servant,  Felicien,  telephoned  me  from  Auber- 
villier,  some  ten  kilometers  from  Paris,  saying  that 
he,  together  with  four  men  of  his  squadron,  had 
become  separated  from  his  regiment,  the  Thirty- 
second  Dragoons.  They  had  lost  their  horses  in  the 
marshes  and  woods  near  Chantilly  during  a  cavalry 
engagement  and  had  been  instructed  to  make  their 
way  to  Paris  and  rejoin  their  regimental  depot  at 
Versailles.  The  party  was  in  charge  of  their  ser- 
geant, who  explained  that  the  regiment  had  at  first 
been  sent  towards  Metz,  where  they  took  part  in 
the  daily  fighting  all  along  the  line  there,  and  that 
suddenly  they  were  entrained  and  rushed  across 
country  to  Peronne,  to  check  the  advance  of  the 
Germans  in  their  march  upon  Paris.  This  seems  to 
indicate  that  the  French  generals  did  not  fully 
appreciate  until  too  late  the  really  vital  importance 
of  the  concentrated  rush  upon  Paris  of  the  right 
wing  of  the  German  armies,  where  all  their  strength 
had  been  assembled.  The  dragoons  seemed  pretty 

[166] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

worn  out,  but  were  in  good  spirits  and  anxious  to 
get  back  again  in  the  fighting  line.  But  they  must 
go  to  Versailles  to  obtain  their  remounts.  Sophie 
made  a  succulent  lunch  for  them  in  the  kitchen. 
They  ate  beefsteak,  potatoes,  cabbage,  fruit,  rice, 
and  cheese,  washed  down  with  half  a  dozen  bottles 
of  light  claret. 

Every  one  seems  to  be  trying  to  get  away  from 
Paris.  It  is  a  sort  of  exodus.  I  watched  my  oppo- 
site neighbors,  Baron  and  Baroness  Pierre  de  Bour- 
going  —  the  latter  better  known  as  Suzanne  Reichen- 
berg  of  the  Comedie  Frangaise  —  getting  into  their 
motor-car  at  half-past  five  this  morning,  accom- 
panied by  a  maid  and  a  pet  dog.  Baron  de  Bour- 
going  was  in  the  uniform  of  a  captain  of  territorials. 
He  will  go  with  his  wife  as  far  as  the  outer  fortifica- 
tions in  the  direction  of  Versailles. 

The  news  of  the  election  of  Cardinal  Jacques  della 
Chiesa  as  Pope,  with  the  title  Benoit  XV,  does  not 
arouse  as  much  public  interest  here  as  does  the 
nomination  of  M.  Emile  Laurent  as  Prefect  of 
Police,  in  place  of  M.  Hennion  who,  on  account  of 
ill  health,  retires  at  his  own  request.  M.  Laurent 
has  for  twenty-three  years  been  secretary-general 
of  the  Prefecture  of  Police.  He  was  born  in  1852. 

[167] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

He  is  thoroughly  familiar  with  every  phase  of  Paris 
life.  He  is  a  man  of  great  energy  and  of  prompt 
decision.  He  is  a  very  kind-hearted  man  and  has 
done  much  toward  relieving  misery  in  the  capital. 
The  appointment  is  a  very  popular  one  and  gives 
general  satisfaction. 


[168] 


Friday -,  September  4* 

THIRTY  -  THIRD  day  of  the  war.  Hot,  sultry  day 
with  light  northeast  wind.  Thunderstorm,  with 
heavy  rain  in  the  evening.  Temperature  at  five 
p.  M.  28  degrees  centigrade. 

Americans  still  left  in  Paris  were  very  busy  to-day 
registering  their  addresses  at  the  chancellery  of  the 
Embassy  in  the  Rue  de  Chaillot.  They  had  to  have 
their  leases  with  them.  I  registered  for  my  little 
place  at  Vernon  and  also  for  my  apartment  in  the 
Rue  Theodule  Ribot.  Among  well  known  Ameri- 
cans whom  I  saw  at  the  chancellery  were  Messrs. 
James  Gordon  Bennett,  De  Courcey  Forbes,  Julius 
and  Robert  Stewart,  William  Morton  Fullerton, 
Mrs.  Duer,  formerly  Mrs.  Clarence  Mackay,  Dr. 
Joseph  Blake,  and  about  a  hundred  others.  All 
sorts  of  wild  rumors  about  the  approaching  Ger- 
mans were  current.  One  tremulous  little  lady  said 
that  "  when  the  Germans  entered  the  forest  of 
Compiegne,  the  French  set  fire  to  the  woods,  and 

[169] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

then  shot  down  the  Germans  like  rabbits  as  they 
fled  from  the  burning  thicket!  " 

I  met  here  Mr.  Robert  Dunn,  war  correspondent 
of  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  who  is  the  only  news- 
paper man  I  have  talked  with  who  really  saw  the 
fighting  near  Le  Cateau  and  Saint  Quentin.  Mr. 
Dunn  went  on  a  train  with  his  bicycle  last  week, 
provided  only  with  a  laisser-passer  for  Aulnay  in 
the  Department  of  the  North.  The  train  was 
brought  to  a  stop  near  Aulnay,  and  the  passengers 
were  informed  that  German  cavalry  occupied  the 
line  a  couple  of  kilometers  further  on.  Every  one 
got  out.  Mr.  Dunn  jumped  on  his  bicycle  and 
wheeled  off  to  Le  Cateau.  Here  he  met  the  British 
retreating  in  good  order.  He  remained  with  them 
as  they  retired  toward  Saint  Quentin.  He  saw  them 
spread  out  in  thin  lines  and  pick  off  the  German 
gunners  by  their  splendid  marksmanship.  Most  of 
the  British  were  wounded  by  shells.  Very  few  of 
them  had  bullet  wounds.  At  Saint  Quentin  a  few 
Highlanders  came  limping  along,  thoroughly  ex- 
hausted with  their  five  days'  continuous  fighting. 
But  although  pale  and  hungry,  their  jaws  were  set 
with  determined  grit.  Their  superb  pluck  impressed 
Mr.  Dunn  immensely.  As  they  were  sitting  at  a 

[170] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

cafe,  some  French  soldiers  led  away  a  German  spy, 
with  a  towel  wrapped  around  his  eyes.  The  man 
was  executed. 

I  met  a  British  staff  officer  at  Brentano's  book- 
store, as  he  was  buying  maps  of  the  environs  of 
Paris.  I  told  him  that  Lord  Kitchener  had  been  to 
Paris  and  had  conferred  with  M.  Millerand,  the 
French  Minister  of  War.  The  officer  said:  "I  am 
glad  to  hear  of  that,  because  at  a  certain  phase  of 
the  fighting  in  the  north,  the  French  completely 
failed  to  support  us." 

I  called  upon  Mr.  William  G.  Sharp,  the  newly 
appointed  United  States  Ambassador,  and  upon 
Mr.  Robert  Bacon,  the  former  United  States  Am- 
bassador. Both  are  stopping  at  the  Hotel  de  Crillon. 
The  Paris  newspapers  seem  highly  pleased  at  this 
"  strong  diplomatic  manifestation  "  —  the  American 
Ambassador  of  yesterday,  the  American  Ambassador 
of  to-day,  and  the  American  Ambassador  of  to-mor- 
row—  constituting  a  delegation  from  the  United 
States  to  see  that  the  rights  of  universal  humanity 
are  respected.  Parisians  salute  the  Star  Spangled 
Banner  as  it  floats  over  the  American  Embassy  as 
the  symbol  of  the  "  World's  Vigilance  against  Bar- 
barity ",  —  such  are  the  words  of  La  Liberti.  M. 

[m] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Gabriel  Hanotaux,  writing  in  the  Figaro,  attaches 
equal  importance  to  the  attitude  of  the  United 
States  as  interpreted  by  its  three  representatives, 
saying:  "  Mr.  Herrick  is  very  happily  not  leaving 
us.  He  has  followed  the  whole  course  of  events 
which  led  to  this  fatal  war,  watching  with  a  just 
and  noble  spirit.  He  has  kept  his  Government  ac- 
curately informed  of  all,  and  he  will  continue  at  the 
head  of  the  Embassy." 

The  Matin  says,  "  that  of  all  the  diplomatists 
accredited  to  France,  it  was  Mr.  Herrick  who  took 
the  gallant  initiative  to  remain  in  Paris,  and  Paris- 
ians deeply  appreciate  this.  In  making  this  choice, 
Mr.  Herrick  said  that  he  regarded  Paris  not  only 
as  the  capital  of  France,  but  as  that '  Metropolis  of 
the  World '  spoken  of  by  Marcus  Aurelius.  He  feels 
that  he  is  the  American  Ambassador  to  both  these 
cities.  In  his  eyes  this  '  Metropolis  of  the  World  ' 
possesses  a  Government,  invisible  doubtless,  but 
perpetually  present,  and  one  with  which  he  wishes 
to  remain  in  touch.  It  is  at  one  and  the  same  time 
to  Paris,  in  its  period  of  trial,  and  to  the  fatherland 
of  the  human  race,  that  Mr.  Herrick  wishes  to  give 
the  pledge  of  his  affection.  Thus  he  is  remaining  as 
a  link  between  those  of  his  compatriots  who  are 

[172] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

residing  among  us  and  the  citizens  of  the  free  Re- 
public across  the  sea  that  has  more  than  once  de- 
clared itself  the  sister  Republic  and  which  professes 
as  much  love  for  our  '  traditions '  as  we  ourselves 
esteem  the  passion  for  '  progress ',  of  which  it  gives 
the  example." 


[173] 


Saturday,  September  5. 

THIRTY  -  FOURTH  day  of  the  war.  Hazy  autumnal 
morning,  clear  and  hot  in  the  afternoon,  with  light 
northerly  breeze.  Thermometer  at  five  p.  M.  26 
degrees  centigrade. 

Germans  appear  to  have  evacuated  the  Com- 
piegne-Senlis  region,  and  are  apparently  moving 
towards  the  southeast,  thus  continuing  a  movement 
that  began  on  Friday.  General  Cherfils,  the  mili- 
tary critic  of  the  Gaulois,  taking  a  very  optimistic 
view  of  the  situation,  thinks  the  movement  may  be 
to  assure  a  retreat  by  some  route  other  than  by  a 
return  through  Belgium.  General  Cherfils  says: 
"This  rush  of  the  German  right  wing  upon  Paris 
is  the  last  bluff  of  terrorism  of  the  last  German 
Emperor!  The  Kaiser  thought  that  he  could 
frighten  us  and  induce  France  to  make  peace.  \  After 
which  he  would  be  free  to  return  with  his  armies 
against  Russia." 

Mr.  d'Arcy  Morel,  the  financial  correspondent  of 
the  London  Daily  Telegraph,  came  to  see  me  to-day. 

[174] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

He  lives  at  Reuil,  in  the  military  zone  northwest  of 
Fort  Mount- Valerian.  He  had  been  up  all  night, 
getting  his  belongings  to  Paris,  and  had  just  sent 
his  little  daughter  to  Dieppe  on  her  way  to  England. 
Mr.  Morel  said  that  the  night  trains  out  of  Paris 
at  the  Gare  Saint-Lazare  were  filled  to  overflowing. 
No  lights  were  permitted  in  the  cars,  and  a  dozen 
soldiers  with  loaded  rifles  were  placed  in  a  "car  just 
behind  the  locomotive,  and  a  dozen  more  soldiers 
at  the  rear  end  of  the  train.  These  trains  stop  at 
every  station  and  take  about  ten  hours  to  reach 
Dieppe,  instead  of  four  hours  as  usual.  Precautions 
of  guarding  the  trains  are  made  because  several 
German  armored  motor-cars  had  been  signalled 
dashing  about  near  Marly  and  Pontoise.  The 
gardener  of  my  little  place  at  Vernon,  which  is  on 
the  western  line  of  the  Seine,  at  a  point  where  it  is 
intersected  by  a  strategic  line  between  Chartres 
in  the  south  and  Gisors  and  Beauvais  in  the  north, 
seems  to  be  confident  that  Vernon  will  not  be  occu- 
pied by  the  Germans,  for  he  managed  to  send  me 
to-day  a  big  basket  full  of  peaches,  pears,  string 
beans,  and  green  corn. 

To-day  the  first  oysters  make  their  appearance! 
This  event,  trivial  in  itself,  is  significant  as  showing 

[175] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

that  the  Paris  central  markets  are  able  to  supply 
Parisians  not  only  with  necessities  but  with  luxu- 
ries. The  mute  oyster  that  comes  in  with  the 
months  having  the  letter  "  R  "  in  their  names  bears 
eloquent  testimony  to  uninterrupted  communica- 
tions. 

I  looked  in  for  a  few  moments  this  afternoon  at 
the  National  Library  in  the  Rue  de  Richelieu.  No 
signs  of  war  here!  A  score  of  inveterate  bookworms 
were  pondering  over  dusty  volumes,  inquisitive 
writers  were  exploring  literature  bearing  upon  the 
war  of  1870,  seeking  precedents  and  parallels  for 
coming  events;  a  few  ladies  were  looking  up  files 
of  old  newspapers  and  fashion  plates.  The  National 
Library  seemed  exactly  as  in  the  most  peaceful  days. 

I  lunched  to-day  at  the  restaurant  Beauge,  in  the 
Rue  Saint-Marc,  a  favorite  resort  of  journalists. 
The  manager  told  me  that  it  would  be  closed  that 
evening.  It  seems  that  he  had  received  a  "  third 
warning  "  not  to  keep  open  after  half -past  nine. 
As  he  could  never  pluck  up  courage  to  eject  his 
customers  while  enjoying  succulent  repasts,  he  de- 
cided to  shut  up  his  place  altogether.  The  sugges- 
tion made  by  an  Irishman,  Mr.  Sulivan  of  Renter's 
Agency,  to  employ  a  London  "  chucker-out  "  did 

[176] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

not  at  all  appeal  to  his  notions  of  the  traditions  of 
Parisian  gastronomic  hospitality. 

I  met  to-day  another  British  officer  buying  books 
at  Brentano's.  He  gave  me  a  picturesque  description 
of  the  German  method  of  advance.  "  It  is  the 
scientific  development  of  the  wild,  fanatic,  life- 
regardless,  condensed  rush  of  the  Soudan  dervishes," 
he  said.  "  The  Germans  mass  together  all  their  big 
field  guns.  They  close  in  around  them  serried  in- 
fantry, goaded  on  by  their  wonderful,  machine- 
made,  non-commissioned  officers,  who  prick  them 
with  sword  bayonets,  and  whenever,  from  wounds 
or  from  sheer  exhaustion,  men  fall  out,  they  are 
shoved  aside,  to  die  by  the  roadside,  or  to  be 
trampled  under  foot,  like  mechanical  tools  that 
have  become  useless.  The  German  officers  and  non- 
commissioned officers  are  utterly  regardless  of  life. 
The  German  flanks  are  protected  by  quantities  of 
machine  guns  placed  so  close  together  that  their 
gunners  jostle  one  another.  This  strange  engine  of 
modern  warfare  creeps  on  like  a  monster  of  the 
apocalypse,  carrying  all  before  it.  Aeroplanes  hov- 
ering over  the  fronts  of  the  columns  direct  move- 
ments by  signalling.  The  dense,  serried  mass  of 
infantry  offers  a  splendid  target.  The  losses  must 

[177] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

have  been  frightful  —  exceeding  anything  recorded 
in  modern  war.  The  German  infantry  are  poor 
marksmen.  They  don't  know  how  to  shoot. 
Scarcely  any  of  our  men  were  wounded  by  bullets. 
Nearly  all  the  wounds  were  inflicted  by  shells." 

The  Marquis  de  Valtierra  has  been  appointed 
Spanish  Ambassador  to  the  French  Republic,  in 
place  of  the  Marquis  de  Villa  Urrutia,  who  has 
resigned.  The  new  Ambassador,  who  has  presented 
his  credentials  to  President  Poincare  at  Bordeaux, 
and  who  is  expected  to  arrive  in  Paris  to-morrow, 
has  not  followed  a  diplomatic  career.  He  is  a  cap- 
tain-general —  a  title  corresponding  with  that  of 
an  army  corps  commander  in  France  —  and  until  a 
few  days  ago  was  in  command  of  the  military  region 
of  Burgos. 

News  that  the  representatives  of  France,  Great 
Britain,  and  Russia  have  signed  an  agreement  in 
London  not  to  make  peace  without  previous  under- 
standing with  the  others,  meets  with  popular  ap- 
proval here,  and  is  taken  as  further  evidence  that 
the  allies  are  determined  to  fight  the  war  to  a  finish. 


178] 


Sunday,  September  6. 

THIRTY  -  FIFTH  day  of  the  war.  Ideal  September 
weather,  with  light  easterly  wind.  Temperature  at 
five  P.  M.  24  degrees  centigrade.  The  moon  is  now 
full. 

Instead  of  making  a  ferocious  attaque  brusquee  on 
Paris,  the  four  army  corps  composing  the  German 
right  wing  are  moving  southeastward,  in  a  supreme 
effort  to  crush  the  left  flank  of  the  French  center, 
which  is  reported  to  be  engaged  with  the  main 
German  forces  near  Rethel,  striving  to  cut  off 
and  surround  the  French  center,  and  thus  achieve  a 
second,  but  far  more  gigantic,  Sedan.  In  any  event, 
the  Germans  are  certainly  moving  away  from  Paris 
to  the  southeast. 

Paris  assumes  a  holiday  aspect.  Thousands  of 
people  made  excursions  to  the  suburbs  of  the  city, 
and  particularly  to  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  to  see 
something  of  the  preparations  for  the  defence.  Boys 
and  girls  from  boarding-schools,  under  care  of  their 
teachers,  were  among  those  who  watched  gangs  of 

[179] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

men  digging  wide  and  deep  trenches,  while  trees  that 
obstructed  the  ground  in  the  vicinity  were  being 
cut  down. 

The  daily  crop  of  Paris  newspapers  is  becoming 
beautifully  less.  The  Temps  published  its  last  Paris 
issue  on  Friday  and  has  transferred  its  headquarters 
to  Bordeaux.  M.  Georges  Clemengeau's  Homme 
Libre  has  ceased  to  appear.  So  also  have  the  Gil 
Bias  and  Autorite.  The  Daily  Mail  has  migrated  to 
Bordeaux.  Most  of  the  newspapers  that  remain  are 
published  on  a  single  sheet.  The  veteran  Journal 
des  Debate  announces  that  for  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  years  it  has  appeared  in  Paris,  being 
interrupted  only  at  rare  and  brief  intervals  when 
provisional  governments,  resulting  from  violence, 
by  brute  force  prevented  publication.  Le  Journal 
des  Debats  will  continue  to  be  printed  and  published 
in  Paris  "  so  long  as  it  is  materially  possible  to  do 
so."  M.  Arthur  Meyer,  editor  and  proprietor  of  Le 
Gaulois,  announces  that  he  will  "  remain  in  Paris  in 
1914  as  he  did  in  1870."  He  will  continue  to  edit 
and  publish  the  Gaulois  in  Paris,  having  around  him 
"  a  small  family  of  editors  and  reporters,  who  replace 
my  own  family,  now,  Alas!  far  away!  "  The  Echo 
de  Paris  continues  to  publish  each  day  an  edition 

[180] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

of  four  pages.    So  also  does  Le  Figaro.    The  Matin 
and  Liberte  appear  on  single  sheets. 

The  European  edition  of  the  New  York  Herald 
appears  every  day  on  its  nice  white  glazed  papier  de 
luxe,  in  a  four-page  edition  Sundays,  and  on  a  single 
sheet  on  week  days.  The  Paris  Her  aid  9  as  it  is 
familiarly  called,  is  printed  half  in  English  and  half 
in  French.  The  war  has  not  frightened  away  the 
venerable  "Old  Philadelphia  Lady",  who  daily 
continues,  as  she  has  done  since  Christmas  eve, 
1899,  to  put  the  following  question: 

To  THE  EDITOK  OF  THE  HERALD:  — 

I  am  anxious  to  find  out  the  way  to  figure  the  tem- 
perature from  Centigrade  to  Fahrenheit  and  vice-versa. 
In  other  words,  I  want  to  know,  whenever  I  see  the  tem- 
perature designated  on  Centigrade  thermometer,  how  to 
find  out  what  it  would  be  on  Fahrenheit's  thermometer. 

OLD  PHILADELPHIA  LADY. 

Paris,  December  24,  1899. 


[181] 


Monday,  September  7. 

THIRTY  -  SIXTH  day  of  the  war.  Hot  September 
weather,  with  brisk  east  wind.  Temperature  at 
five  P.  M.  24  degrees  centigrade. 

The  great  battle  begun  Sunday  morning  continues 
with  slight  advantages  obtained  by  the  allies  and 
extends  over  a  front  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles, 
from  Nanteuil  le  Haudoin,  on  the  allied  left,  to 
Verdun.  The  allies  occupy  very  strong  positions. 
Their  left  is  supported  by  Paris,  their  right  by  the 
fortresses  of  Verdun,  and  their  center  by  the  en- 
trenched camps  of  Mailly,  just  south  of  Vitry-le- 
Frangois. 

About  thirty  American  and  English  newspaper 
men  met  at  lunch  to-day  at  the  restaurant  Hubin, 
Number  22  Rue  Drouot.  Among  those  present 
were  Fullerton,  Grundy,  MacAlpin,  Williams,  Knox, 
Reeves,  O'Niel,  Sims,  and  others.  Every  one  was 
in  fine  spirits,  the  trend  of  feeling  being  that  Paris 
was  the  most  interesting  place  to  be  in  just  now,  and 
that  perhaps  the  best  story  of  the  war  may  yet 
be  written  in  Paris. 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

I  drove  in  a  cab  with  MacAlpin  to  the  Gare  du 
Nord  to  meet  a  train  of  British  wounded  that  was 
expected  to  arrive  there.  We  found  the  station  al- 
most deserted.  A  reserve  captain  of  the  Forty-sixth 
Infantry,  whose  left  forearm  had  been  smashed  by 
a  shell,  arrived  and  was  very  glad  to  get  some  hot 
soup  provided  by  the  railroad  ambulance  women. 
Saw  a  brigadier-general  and  his  staff  going  full 
speed  in  a  motor-car  to  the  east.  Artillery  firing 
was  heard  this  morning  to  the  east  of  Paris,  but  was 
no  longer  audible  after  eleven  A.  M.  While  sitting 
at  a  cafe  opposite  the  Gare  du  Nord,  I  noticed  the 
huge  statues  of  "  Berlin  "  and  "  Vienna  "  over  the 
front  of  the  building,  and  wondered  if  they  would 
remain  intact  during  the  war.  Driving  to  the  Gare 
de  FEst,  we  saw  gangs  of  workmen  with  entrenching 
tools,  going  into  trains,  under  the  direction  of  en- 
gineer officers,  to  dig  rifle  pits. 

The  sanitary  condition  of  Paris  is  excellent.  No 
epidemic  of  any  kind  is  reported.  There  were  sev- 
eral cases  of  scarlatina,  but  the  number  is  insignifi- 
cant. 

The  board  of  governors  of  the  American  Hospital 
has  turned  over  its  responsibility  to  the  American 
Ambulance  Committee,  which  will  manage  the 

[183] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Hospital  service  for  the  benefit  of  the  French  army, 
at  the  Lycee  Pasteur,  Neuilly.  The  committee  is 
composed  of  William  S.  Dalliba,  honorary  chair- 
man, Reverend  Doctor  S.  N.  Watson,  chairman, 
Messrs.  Laurence  B.  Benet,  Charles  Carroll,  F.  W. 
Monahan,  and  I.  V.  Twyeffort. 

I  met  in  the  Rue  de  la  Paix  two  Irish  cavalry 
soldiers,  who  had  become  detached  from  their  squad- 
ron during  the  operations  north  of  Paris.  :(  The 
last  place  we  remember  fighting  at  was  Copenhagen," 
said  one  of  the  men.  But  on  being  further  ques- 
tioned, it  turned  out  that  Copenhagen  was  Tip- 
perary  dialect  for  Compiegne. 

The  Herald  has  decided  to  remain  in  Paris,  but 
its  price  will  be  twenty-five  centimes  instead  of 
fifteen  centimes.  The  reasons  for  the  increased 
price  are  that  advertisements,  the  main  source  of 
revenue  for  a  newspaper,  have  almost  completely 
disappeared.  The  Herald  at  present  is  being  run 
at  a  loss  of  thirty-five  thousand  francs  a  week.  As 
the  editor  points  out:  "  This  may  be  journalism, 
but  it  is  not  business."  The  increased  price  will 
probably  diminish  the  weekly  loss. 


184] 


Tuesday,  September  8. 

THIRTY  -  SEVENTH  day  of  the  war.  Cloudy 
weather  with  rain  in  the  afternoon.  Brisk  south- 
easterly wind.  Thermometer  at  five  P.  M.  22  de- 
grees centigrade. 

The  allied  armies  are  more  than  holding  their 
own  on  the  vast  line  between  the  Ourcq  and  Verdun. 
Meanwhile  all  precautions  are  being  taken  by  the 
Military  Government  of  Paris  for  an  eventual  siege. 
The  Bois  de  Boulogne  resembles  a  cattle  ranch. 
The  census  of  the  civil  population  of  the  "  en- 
trenched camp  of  Paris  ",  just  taken  with  a  view  of 
providing  rations  during  a  possible  siege,  shows  that 
there  are  887,267  families  residing  in  Paris,  repre- 
senting a  total  of  2,106,786  individuals  of  all  ages 
and  both  sexes.  This  is  a  decrease  of  thirty  per 
cent,  since  the  last  census  in  1911.  The  health  of 
the  city  is  excellent.  The  census  sheets  notify  in- 
habitants that  gas  during  a  siege  must  be  used  ex- 
clusively for  lighting  purposes  and  never  for  cook- 
ing or  heating.  This  will  cause  some  tribulation  in 
the  small  menages,  where  the  cheap,  popular,  and 

[185] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

handy  gas-stove  has  replaced  the  coal  or  charcoal 
ovens  and  ranges. 

The  rain  came  on  this  afternoon  at  four,  while  a 
large  crowd  of  Parisians  stood  in  the  square  in  front 
of  the  church  of  Saint-Etienne  du  Mont,  beside 
the  Pantheon,  but  it  failed  to  disperse  the  faithful, 
who  were  taking  part  in  the  outdoor  service  of  hom- 
age to  Sainte-Genevieve,  the  protectress  of  Paris, 
whose  remains  are  buried  in  this  small  church  of  the 
Gothic-Renaissance  period  (1517-1620),  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  all  the  sacred  edifices  of  France. 

Those  who  recently  hastened  away  from  Paris  in 
search  of  a  place  of  refuge,  quiet,  and  safety,  have 
met  with  many  disappointments.  The  roads  to 
Tours  are  blocked  with  vehicles  of  every  description, 
many  of  them  filled  with  refugees  who  have  turned 
them  into  temporary  dwellings.  Automobiles  are 
brought  to  a  standstill  for  lack  of  benzol.  Every- 
thing on  the  way  from  Paris  to  Bordeaux  is  requi- 
sitioned. At  Orleans,  people  wander  about  vainly 
seeking  a  place  in  which  to  sleep.  The  town  is  filled. 
People  buy  ham  and  sausages,  which  they  eat  in 
cafes  or  in  the  streets.  At  Blois,  the  citizens  offer 
to  lodge  refugees  and  travelers  at  the  rate  of  five 
francs  a  day.  The  Blois  people  are  very  hospitable 

[186] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

and  do  not  seek  to  unduly  profit  by  the  situation. 
The  Grand  Hotel  is  of  course  overflowing,  but  the 
prices  remain  the  same  as  in  ordinary  times.  At 
Tours,  the  inhabitants  are  less  hospitable  and  more 
avaricious.  One  of  the  biggest  hotels  in  the  town 
asks  fifty  francs  (ten  dollars)  for  a  simple  armchair 
in  which  to  pass  the  night.  Three  special  trains 
yesterday  carried  away  to  Provence  the  inmates  of 
the  insane  asylums  of  Bic£tre  and  Charenton.  It 
was  a  weird  sight  to  see  these  men  and  women, 
utterly  unconscious  of  the  war,  gazing  with  nervous 
uncertainty  upon  the  strange  scenes  through  which 
they  were  conducted  to  the  Orleans  Station,  some- 
wha.t  like  helpless  flocks  of  sheep. 

Shortly  after  leaving  the  large  room  at  Number 
31  Boulevard  des  Invalides,  where  the  official  com- 
muniques are  now  given  out  to  the  French  and  for- 
eign press,  I  met  a  sergeant  of  an  infantry  regiment 
who  had  been  wounded  during  the  fighting  between 
Coulommier  and  Ferte-Gaucher.  "  At  daybreak  on 
Sunday,"  he  said,  "  we  were  sent  forward  to  prevent 
the  German  infantry  from  making  their  favorite 
turning  movement  on  our  left  wing.  Our  orders 
were  to  hold  on  to  the  enemy  and  prevent  his  ad- 
vance until  the  allied  troops  near  Meaux  had  re- 

[187] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

pulsed  the  German  attack  being  made  in  their 
direction.  Early  in  the  afternoon,  the  Germans 
retired  from  Meaux  before  the  allied  divisions. 
We  advanced  and  drove  them  north  of  Ferte- 
Gaucher.  The  fighting  lasted  all  night  and  became 
very  severe  on  Monday  morning,  but  shortly  after- 
wards the  Germans  offered  but  slight  resistance. 
For  thirty  kilometers  we  followed  up  two  German 
infantry  regiments,  supported  by  their  cavalry  and 
a  section  of  artillery.  During  their  retreat,  the 
Germans  did  not  fire  a  single  shot.  We  soon  suc- 
ceeded in  cutting  off  a  detachment  of  infantry  and 
in  capturing  seven  field  guns  and  two  machine  guns. 
One  of  the  prisoners,  an  infantry  sergeant,  ad- 
mitted that  his  men  were  short  of  ammunition,  and 
that  their  orders  were  to  use  as  little  of  it  as  pos- 
sible. It  was  during  the  last  combat  that  I  was 
wounded  in  the  thigh  by  a  Prussian  officer,  who  cut 
me  with  his  sword  as  I  was  trying  to  disarm  him." 
A  wounded  French  infantry  lieutenant  says  that 
the  German  troops  seem  "  fatigued  and  fagged 
out."  Another  officer  says  that  in  the  trenches  near 
Coulommier,  a  dozen  German  infantry  soldiers 
were  found  dead,  having  been  killed  by  French  .75 
millimeter  shells,  and  were  in  the  same  attitudes  of 

[188] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

firing  that  they  had  taken  at  the  moment  when 
they  had  been  "  crisped  "  by  death.  An  Algerian 
Turco  was  found  dead,  grasping  his  rifle,  the  bay- 
onet of  which  had  pierced  and  killed  a  German  sol- 
dier. Both  were  corpses,  but  stood  in  grim  death 
like  a  group  of  statuary. 

I  received  to-day  a  letter  from  my  gardener  at 
Vernon.  He  says  that  the  roads  are  filled  with 
refugees,  who  are  being  sent  on  to  Brittany  by  way 
of  Louviers.  Motorists  along  the  roads  say  that 
they  have  passed  continuous  lines  of  refugees,  some- 
times seventy  kilometers  in  length.  The  Chateau 
de  Bizy  is  transformed  into  a  hospital  and  so  also 
is  the  Chateau  des  Penitents  at  Vernonnet.  Most 
of  the  injured  have  slight  wounds  in  the  arms  or 
legs.  Many  of  them,  after  five  days'  treatment, 
are  able  to  go  back  to  the  front. 


189 


Wednesday,  September  9. 

THIRTY  -  EIGHTH  day  of  the  war.  Somewhat 
cooler  weather,  with  cloudy  sky  and  with  south  to 
southwesterly  wind,  at  times  blowing  in  sharp  gusts. 
Thermometer  at  five  p.  M.  £1  degrees  centigrade. 

The  air  is  still  overcharged  with  uncertainty  as  to 
the  result  of  the  great  battle  along  the  front  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  miles  between  the  Ourcq  and 
Verdun.  Will  the  Germans  succeed  in  forcing  their 
tremendous  wedge  through  the  French  center  near 
Vitry  and  separate  the  allied  armies  to  the  west  and 
around  Paris,  from  the  great  French  armies  to  the 
east  and  around  Verdun? 

A  German  repulse  means  a  German  tragedy. 
But  if  they  succeed  in  their  bold  move  on  the 
center,  and  separate  the  allied  armies,  they  will 
gain  a  very  great  strategic  success  and  can  then 
turn  their  attention  to  the  investment  of  a  segment 
of  the  fortifications  of  Paris. 

Meanwhile  the  official  communiques  given  out  at 
three  p.  M.  and  at  eleven  p.  M.,  at  the  Military 
Government  of  Paris,  are,  to  say  the  least,  hopeful. 

[190] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Every  attempt  to  break  through  the  French  lines 
on  the  Ourcq  has  failed.  No  change  noted  on  the 
center  and  on  the  allied  right. 

At  two  this  afternoon  I  saw  a  small,  low,  dusty 
motor-car  come  spinning  along  the  Boulevard  des 
Invalides,  containing  four  soldiers,  who  had  with 
them  two  German  flags,  captured  this  morning 
during  the  fighting  near  the  Ourcq.  They  were 
bringing  their  trophies  to  General  Gallieni,  who 
conferred  the  Military  Medal  —  the  highest  French 
distinction  for  valor  in  action  —  on  the  reserve 
infantry  soldier  Guillemard,  who  captured  one  of 
these  flags  in  a  hand-to-hand  encounter.  The  flag 
belonged  to  the  Thirty-sixth  Prussian  Infantry 
Regiment,  the  Magdeburg  Fusiliers,  and  had  been 
decorated  with  the  Iron  Cross  in  1870. 

One  of  the  French  biplanes  that  scour  the  sky 
daily  in  search  of  German  taubes  met  with  sad  dis- 
aster yesterday  while  flying  over  the  Bois  de  Vin- 
cennes.  The  aeroplane  contained  a  lieutenant  and 
a  corporal  of  the  aviation  corps.  A  violent  gust  of 
wind  capsized  it,  and  it  fell  to  the  ground,  burying 
the  occupants  in  a  heap  of  debris.  When  extri- 
cated, both  were  dead.  A  few  moments  after  the 
biplane  struck  the  earth,  either  its  motor,  or  the 

[191] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

bombs  that  it  had  on  board,  exploded,  and  four 
passers-by  were  killed  by  flying  fragments.  Two 
of  them  were  ten-year-old  lads.  A  little  girl  and 
several  other  persons  were  more  or  less  bruised.  It 
so  happened  that  I  had  watched  this  biplane  from 
the  Boulevard  de  Courcelles  as  it  soared  over  Paris 
at  a  height  of  fifteen  hundred  meters.  It  was  very 
steady  in  its  movements  and  was  going  in  an  easterly 
direction.  This  must  have  been  some  ten  minutes 
before  the  catastrophe. 

The  committee  of  the  National  Society  of  Fine 
Arts  held  a  meeting  to-day  at  the  Grand  Palais,  to 
render  aid  to  painters,  sculptors,  and  artists  in 
need  of  assistance,  without  regard  to  nationality, 
passed  resolutions  of  indignation  at  the  injury  of 
works  of  art  in  France  and  Belgium  committed  by 
the  German  armies,  and  at  the  destruction  of  the 
objects  of  art  solicited  by  Germany  and  entrusted 
by  France  to  the  International  Exhibition  at  Leip- 
sic,  and  unanimously  voted  to  strike  from  the  list 
of  members  the  names  of  all  artists  of  German 
nationality. 

The  art  critic  of  the  Gil  Bias,  M.  Louis  Vauxelles, 
whose  scathing  criticisms  of  the  "  classic  "  pompier 
academic  school  of  painting  and  of  sculpture,  and 

[1921 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

whose  intelligent  censure  of  the  extreme  "  futurist  " 
clique  elicit  the  hearty  approval  of  all  true  lovers  of 
art,  in  the  United  States,  as  well  as  in  France,  is 
serving  as  a  simple  soldier  in  an  infantry  regiment, 
but  finds  time  occasionally  to  write  to  the  Intransi- 
giant  picturesque  descriptions  of  military  life. 

I  received  a  letter  from  a  friend  at  Tours,  where 
the  refugees  are  becoming  less  numerous,  but  the 
hospitals  on  the  contrary  are  nearly  full  of  wounded. 
Comtesse  Paul  de  Pourtales  is  doing  splendid  work 
there  as  the  head  of  the  Red  Cross,  and  M.  Gaston 
Menier,  the  popular  senator,  a  warm  personal  friend 
of  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie  and  the  owner  of  the  great 
chocolate  works,  has  turned  his  Chateau  of  Chenon- 
ceaux  into  a  perfectly  organized  hospital  with  a 
corps  of  surgeons  and  professional  nurses,  which  he 
maintains  at  his  own  expense.  Nearly  a  hundred 
French  wounded  are  already  being  cared  for  in  the 
Chenonceaux  hospital.  As  soon  as  they  get  well 
enough,  they  are  sent  back  to  rejoin  their  regiments. 
All  the  villas  in  the  neighborhood  of  Tours  are  al- 
ready leased  to  families  that  have  gone  away  from 
Paris. 

In  accordance  with  the  notices  of  the  Military 
Governor  of  Paris,  I  was  vaccinated  against  small- 

[193] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

pox  to-day,  together  with  all  those  now  living  in 
the  house  —  in  all  twelve  persons. 

Mr.  William  G.  Sharp,  who  has  been  appointed 
to  succeed  Mr.  Myron  T.  Herrick  as  American  Am- 
bassador in  France,  remains  here  with  his  son, 
George,  and  is  preparing  to  make  himself  familiar 
with  the  situation,  so  that  when  the  proper  time 
comes,  he  may  take  over  his  office.  Mr.  Sharp  is 
already  making  headway  with  his  somewhat  theo- 
retical knowledge  of  French.  He  told  me  that  the 
war  had  upset  many  diplomatic  and  other  prece- 
dents. "  It  is  quite  obvious,"  he  said,  "  that  at 
this  critical  period,  Mr.  Herrick  could  not  desert 
his  post,  where  his  knowledge  and  experience  have 
been  so  valuable."  Mr.  Sharp  added:  "It  is 
needless  to  say  that  there  will  be  no  change  of  policy 
with  my  arrival  as  Ambassador  to  France.  The 
friendship  between  the  United  States  and  France 
was  never  firmer  than  it  is  to-day.  Personally,  I 
am  a  fervent  admirer  of  France,  of  French  art,  cul- 
ture, and  science. 

"  Probably  no  country  in  the  world  is  more  uni- 
versally admired  for  its  high  degree  of  civilization 
than  France.  But  it  is  my  duty,  as  the  future 
representative  of  the  United  States,  to  be  absolutely 

[194] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

neutral  in  everything  concerning  the  present  conflict. 
It  cannot  be  too  strongly  stated  that  the  United 
States  Government  will  not  swerve  from  its  attitude 
of  strict  neutrality.  The  more  impartial  we  remain, 
the  stronger  our  position  will  be,  and  the  better  it 
will  be,  indeed,  for  all  the  belligerents  when  the 
time  comes  for  discussing  the  conclusion  of  peace. 

"  For  I  shall  not  be  indiscreet  if  I  give  voice  to 
the  thought  held  by  many  people  that  the  role  of 
the  United  States  is  bound  to  be  a  most  important 
one  at  that  moment. 

"  President  Wilson's  recent  offer,"  he  said,  "  was 
timely,  and  although  every  one  knew  that  it  could 
not  then  be  accepted,  yet  it  had  the  effect  of  setting 
men's  minds  thinking. 

:<  What  nation  could  be  more  fitted  than  the 
United  States  to  take  the  lead  in  the  peace  nego- 
tiations? "  asked  Mr.  Sharp.  "  In  our  nation  are 
amalgamated  all  the  races  now  at  war.  Our  sin- 
cerity is  undoubted.  Our  natural  position  of  im- 
partiality and  neutrality  is  such  that  America's 
voice  would  be  surely  listened  to  at  the  opportune 
moment." 

Mr..  Sharp  himself  belongs  to  several  peace  or- 
ganizations in  America.  He  believes  that  after  the 

[195] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

present  war  there  will  be  a  complete  revulsion  of 
public  opinion  throughout  the  world  in  favor  of 
peace.  Never,  he  said,  will  there  have  been  a  riper 
moment  for  some  scheme  of  general  disarmament. 

Mr.  Sharp  would  like  to  see  the  United  States  a 
party  to  an  epoch-making  treaty  sealing  such  an 
international  accord.  In  this  respect  he  believes 
that,  atrocious  as  this  European  conflagration  is, 
good  will  be  the  outcome  for  all  nations,  whoever 
the  victors  may  be,  if  Europe  reaps  a  lasting  peace. 

Mr.  Sharp  comes  to  Paris  with  a  general  knowl- 
edge of  international  political  affairs,  having  served 
as  a  member  in  the  United  States  Congress  for  three 
terms,  and  holding  position  of  ranking  member  of 
the  Foreign  Affairs  Committee  at  the  time  of  his 
appointment. 


[196] 


Thursday,  September  10. 

THIRTY  -  NINTH  day  of  the  war.  Cloudy  weather, 
with  a  brisk  shower  and  some  thunder  at  three  this 
afternoon.  Afterwards  fine.  Southerly  wind.  Tem- 
perature at  five  P.  M.  22  degrees  centigrade. 

Favorable  news  was  communicated  at  eleven 
o'clock  this  evening  at  the  headquarters  at  the  In- 
valides.  After  four  days  of  steady  fighting,  the 
allied  left  wing  has  crossed  the  Marne  near  Charly 
and  driven  back  the  enemy  sixty  kilometers,  the 
British  taking  many  prisoners  and  machine  guns. 
Near  Sezanne,  the  Prussian  Guard  Corps  has  been 
driven  back,  north  of  the  marshes  of  St.  Gond.  No 
change  is  noted  in  relative  positions  on  the  allied 
center  and  right,  where  fighting  still  continues  with 
great  violence. 

I  went  to  the  official  press  bureau  at  three  this 
afternoon  and  met  there  M.  Arthur  Meyer,  the 
genial  and  venerable  editor  of  the  Gaulois,  and 
about  forty  French  and  foreign  journalists.  M. 
Arthur  Meyer,  as  "  dean  "  of  our  calling,  had  a 
pleasant  word  and  smile  for  all.  Just  before  the 

[197] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

official  communiqu^  the  director  of  the  Press 
Bureau,  Commandant  Klotz,  former  Minister  of 
Finance,  instructed  his  assistant  to  notify  all  present 
that  "  any  reproduction  of  or  even  allusion  to  the 
interview  published  in  an  American  morning  paper 
(the  Paris  Herald)  with  an  American  diplomatist 
would  not  pass  the  censor  if  handed  in  at  the  tele- 
graph or  cable  offices,  and  also  that  its  appearance 
in  any  French  newspaper  was  prohibited.  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  the  interview  might  cause 
misunderstanding,  and  that  it  merely  reflected  the 
personal  opinions  of  a  private  individual  who  in  no 
way  was  an  accredited  representative  of  the  United 
States." 

This  "  official  rebuke  "  was  of  course  intended 
for  Mr.  William  G.  Sharp,  whose  interview  was 
printed  in  to-day's  Herald.  According  to  European 
custom,  diplomacy  is  a  special  calling  or  profession 
like  those  of  the  soldier,  sailor,  lawyer,  or  physician. 
Amateur  diplomacy  has  no  place  in  Europe,  and  to 
the  French  mind,  the  presence  in  Paris  of  an  un- 
accredited, although  designated,  ambassador,  who 
expresses  his  personal  opinions  on  every  subject, 
while  there  is  a  duly  accredited  ambassador  here, 
is  an  anomaly,  causing  no  little  annoyance  to  the 

[198] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

authorities,  and  tending  to  hamper  and  discredit 
the  official  representative  of  the  United  States  in 
Paris. 

It  is  whispered  that  this  "  diplomatic  indiscre- 
tion "  of  Mr.  Sharp  may  lead  to  a  refusal  of  the 
French  Government,  when  the  time  comes,  to  grant 
his  credentials.  All  the  more  so,  because  when  Mr. 
Sharp  was  first  spoken  of  as  a  possible  ambassador 
to  Russia,  the  Russian  Foreign  Office  notified  Wash- 
ington that  Mr.  Sharp  was  not  exactly  a  persona 
grata,  owing  to  certain  public  statements  attributed 
to  him  concerning  the  attitude  of  the  Russian  Gov- 
ernment in  regard  to  passports  to  Jews  of  American 
and  other  nationalities.  When  Mr.  Sharp  was 
nominated  as  American  Ambassador  to  France,  the 
French  Foreign  Office  discreetly  inquired  at  St. 
Petersburg  whether  the  Russian  Government  had 
any  objection  to  Mr.  Sharp  being  accepted  in  Paris 
as  the  United  States  Ambassador.  The  reply  from 
St.  Petersburg  was  that "  there  were  no  objections  ", 
consequently  the  usual  intimation  was  given  by  the 
Quai  d'Orsay  that  Mr.  Sharp  would  be  an  agreeable 
person  in  Paris.  The  arrival  here  of  Mr.  Sharp,  in 
the  midst  of  the  war,  and  his  interview  on  the  situa- 
tion, however,  has  not  influenced  the  French  officials 

f  1991 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

at  the  Foreign  Office  in  his  favor.  Mr.  Sharp  is 
unquestionably  a  patriotic,  clear-headed,  capable, 
and  highly  intelligent  representative  of  our  country- 
men, and  moreover,  he  is  now  obtaining  diplomatic 
experience. 

Spain  has  also  had  some  tribulation  with  its  am- 
bassadors to  France.  When  President  Poincare  and 
the  French  Cabinet  decided  to  transfer  the  seat  of 
government  to  Bordeaux,  the  Spanish  Ambassador, 
Marquis  de  Villa  Urrutia,  was  about  to  quit  Paris 
with  President  Poincare,  but  the  King  of  Spain 
wished  his  representative  to  remain  in  Paris.  The 
marquis,  however,  to  use  an  American  expression, 
got  "  cold  feet "  and  expressed  a  wish  to  go  to 
Bordeaux.  When  this  news  reached  King  Alfonso, 
it  so  happened  that  Lieutenant-general  de  los  Mon- 
teros,  Marquis  de  Valtierra,  Captain-general  of 
Northern  Spain  at  Burgos  and  San  Sebastian,  was 
in  conference  with  the  king.  King  Alfonso  asked 
the  Marquis  de  Valtierra  where  in  his  opinion  would 
be  the  proper  place  in  France  for  the  Spanish  Am- 
bassador. "  Why,"  was  the  quick  reply,  "  Paris, 
of  course."  "  Well,"  said  the  king,  "  that  is  not 
the  opinion  of  the  Marquis  de  Villa  Urrutia,  but  it 
is  also  my  own  opinion,  and  I  have  now  decided  to 

[200] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

send  you  to  Paris  as  my  ambassador!  "  Conse- 
quently, the  Marquis  de  Villa  Urrutia  was  forthwith 
replaced  by  the  Marquis  de  Valtierra,  who  is  already 
duly  installed  in  the  Spanish  Embassy  in  the  Boule- 
vard de  Courcelles.  The  new  Spanish  Ambas- 
sador speaks  English  perfectly,  as  well  as  French, 
and  he  is  a  personal  friend  of  Ambassador  Herrick. 
The  condition  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  of  some 
of  the  French  fortresses  in  the  north  near  the  Bel- 
gian frontier,  as  well  as  around  Rheims  and  Vitry-le- 
Frangois,  for  which  the  French  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties refused  in  1899  to  vote  appropriations,  is  being 
paid  for  a  thousandfold  to-day.  In  1885,  when 
experiments  made  at  Malmaison  with  the  newly- 
invented  torpedo  shells,  then  about  to  be  adopted 
by  the  German  artillery,  showed  that  no  forts  could 
resist  them  unless  provided  with  armor  plates  and 
with  beton  protection  for  men  and  ammunition,  a 
new  plan  of  defence  was  drawn  up.  As  the  cost  of 
the  new  armor  and  protection  for  the  forts  was  very 
great,  it  was  decided  to  declasser  a  number  of  for- 
tresses, among  which  were  Lille,  Douai,  Arras,  Lan- 
drecies,  Peronne,  Vitry-le-Frangois,  and  others.  It 
had  already  been  foreseen  that  the  main  German 
attack  would  some  day  be  made  through  Luxem- 

[201] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

burg  and  Belgium.  The  fortresses  of  Maubeuge, 
Charlemont  (Givet),  Montmedy,  and  Longwy  then 
became  of  supreme  importance,  for  the  defence  of 
northern  France  against  an  invading  army  through 
Belgium.  The  Chamber  of  Deputies  persistently 
refused  to  vote  the  necessary  money,  and  the 
result  of  this  want  of  foresight  became  painfully 
apparent  during  the  present  war,  when  the  Germans 
made  their  broad  sweep  from  Belgium  to  Compiegne, 
meeting  on  their  way. with  no  permanent  works  of 
defence. 

The  civil  and  religious  wedding  of  Mr.  James 
Gordon  Bennett,  proprietor  of  the  New  York  Herald, 
with  Baroness  George  de  Reuter  took  place  to-day 
at  the  Town  Hall  of  the  ninth  arrondissement  of 
Paris,  and  at  the  American  Episcopal  Church  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,  in  the  Avenue  de  TAlma.  The  wit- 
nesses of  the  bride  were  the  Due  de  Camastra  and 
Vicomte  de  Breteuil.  Those  for  Mr.  Bennett  were 
the  American  Ambassador,  Mr.  Herrick,  and  Pro- 
fessor Albert  Robin,  the  well-known  scientist  and 
member  of  the  French  Academy  of  Medicine.  The 
bride  was  the  widow  of  Baron  George  de  Reuter, 
and  was  formerly  Miss  Potter  of  Baltimore.  The 
ceremonies  were  very  simple,  the  only  guests  being 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

Mrs.  Herrick  and  the  Vicomtesse  de  Breteuil. 
The  ceremony  in  the  church  was  performed  by  the 
Reverend  Doctor  Watson.  Those  present  after- 
wards took  tea  at  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Bennett  hi 
the  Rue  de  Lubeck.  The  day  before  the  wedding 
Mr.  Bennett  had  been  confirmed  by  the  Reverend 
Doctor  Watson  in  the  faith  of  the  American  Episco- 
pal Church.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Ben- 
nett's father  was  a  Scotch  Roman  Catholic,  while 
his  mother  was  an  Irish  Protestant,  a  combination 
that  seldom  occurs,  and  which  often  induced  Mr. 
Bennett  to  playfully  remark:  "I  take  after  both 
my  father  and  my  mother,  for  when  I  find  myself 
surrounded  by  genial  conviviality,  I  feel  that  I  am  an 
Irishman,  but  when  amidst  grave  cares  and  weighty 
business,  I  am  a  Scotchman." 


[203] 


Friday,  September  11. 

FORTIETH  day  of  the  war.  Overcast  sky  from 
dawn  to  noon,  then  steady,  heavy  rain  all  the  after- 
noon. Southwest  wind,  blowing  in  gusts.  Ther- 
mometer at  five  p.  M.  17  degrees  centigrade. 

The  Germans  continue  to  retire  north  of  the 
Marne  towards  Soissons.  The  British  army  has 
captured  eleven  guns,  stores,  ammunition,  and 
fifteen  hundred  prisoners.  The  German  retreat 
measures  seventy  kilometers  in  four  days.  All 
seems  to  go  well  with  the  allies.  The  heavy  rain  is 
bad  for  the  German  retreat,  especially  in  the  swampy 
ground  they  must  pass  through. 

All  this  cheerful  news  from  the  front  gives  renewed 
confidence  to  the  two  millions  of  Parisians  remaining 
at  home,  who  begin  to  feel  that  there  is  no  longer 
any  imminent  danger  of  being  besieged. 

What  might  be  called  a  side-issue  of  the  war 
appeared  to-day  in  the  shape  of  a  new  English  daily 
newspaper  published  in  Paris,  called  the  Paris  Daily 
Post.  It  consists  of  a  small  single  sheet  —  the 
Figaro,  and  the  Echo  de  Paris,  are  the  only  papers 
now  printed  on  double  sheets  —  and  in  an  editorial 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

note  declares  that  its  policy  is  to  "  preach  courage 
and  confidence."  It  is  an  unpretentious,  lively, 
amusing  little  production  and  may  eventually  have 
a  brilliant  career. 

Many  of  the  wounded  now  coming  in  to  the  hos- 
pitals are  being  treated  for  rheumatism  contracted 
in  the  trenches  during  days  and  nights  of  exposure 
to  the  rain.  A  man  of  the  East  Lancashire  Regi- 
ment, who  had  his  left  arm  smashed  by  a  shell,  said 
that  when  his  detachment  were  attacked  at  dawn 
in  a  village  near  Compiegne,  "  the  terrified  women 
and  children  rushed  into  the  streets  in  their  night 
gowns.  Their  houses  were  being  smashed  like  pie- 
crust. It  made  us  feel  badly  to  see  some  of  these 
poor  women  and  children  blown  to  pieces  by  the 
German  shells.  We  tried  to  put  them  in  whatever 
shelter  was  available." 

Professor  Pierre  Delbet,  of  the  Paris  Faculty  of 
Medicine,  relates  an  extraordinary  conversation 
between  a  young  general  commanding  a  division  of 
the  Prussian  Guard  Corps  and  Doctor  Delbet's 
mother,  who  is  a  venerable  lady  of  seventy-seven. 
Professor  Delbet  went  yesterday  to  visit  his  mother 
at  her  country  house  situated  in  a  village  on  the 
Grand  Morin  River,  in  the  heart  of  the  region  where 

[205] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

the  fighting  took  place  a  few  days  ago.  Madame  Del- 
bet's  house  is  in  the  center  of  the  village,  and  on  her 
grounds  a  small  wooden  bridge  connects  the  court- 
yard and  flower  garden  with  the  vegetable  garden 
on  the  other  bank.  There  are  two  public  bridges 
at  the  ends  of  the  village,  but  these  had  been  blown 
up  by  the  French  engineer  soldiers.  Last  Friday 
morning  the  Germans  arrived  and  smashed  open  the 
double  gate  of  Madame  Delbet's  house.  A  young 
general,  with  an  eyeglass  fixed  to  his  left  eye,  ap- 
proached, while  a  soldier  stood  with  a  loaded  re- 
volver pointed  at  the  old  lady's  head.  The  general 
remarked  with  politeness:  "Madame,  you  will  let 
us  pass  over  your  private  bridge." 

"  I  have  no  means  of  preventing  you,  but  I  warn 
you  the  bridge  is  not  very  solid." 

"Ah!  we  will  see  to  that." 

The  general  gave  orders,  and  in  fifteen  minutes 
the  rickety  bridge  was  braced  up  with  three  strong 
trusses.  Then  thirty  soldiers  were  put  on  the 
bridge  and  jumped  six  times  in  unison  at  the  word 
of  command.  After  this  test,  the  passage  of  troops 
began,  while  the  pontoniers  were  repairing  the  two 
public  bridges.  The  general  approached  Madame 
Delbet  and  with  great  courtesy  placed  two  com- 

[206] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

fortable  armchairs  in  a  shady  nook  of  the  courtyard, 
and  by  an  invitation  that  seemed  to  be  a  command, 
requested  her  to  take  a  seat  and  see  "  the  little 
Prussian  review  that  would  surely  be  interesting." 
The  old  lady  sat  beside  the  general  and  witnessed 
the  defilS  that  lasted  seven  hours  —  from  11.30  in 
the  morning  to  6.30  in  the  evening.  The  general 
scrutinized  his  men  through  his  monocle.  By  and 
by  he  had  his  servant  make  some  tea  and  toast, 
which  he  offered  to  his  "  hostess."  While  sipping 
tea,  the  general  said:  "  Madame,  when  you  become 
a  German,  as  will  surely  be  the  case,  you  will  be 
proud  to  recollect  that  you  witnessed  the  passage 
of  my  troops  over  your  bridge.  I  shall  have  a  bronze 
tablet  made  and  placed  over  your  gate  to  com- 
memorate the  event." 

When  Madame  Delbet  protested,  the  general 
burst  into  a  hearty  laugh,  and  said:  "Why,  Ma- 
dame, that  is  already  settled.  You  cannot  defend 
yourselves.  Oh,  yes!  you  have  in  mind  your 
friends  the  English  and  your  friends  the  Rus- 
sians. But  your  good  friends  the  English  can  only 
fight  on  the  sea;  they  are  of  no  value  on  land.  As 
for  the  Russians,  they  don't  know  what  an  army  is!  " 

At  this  moment  the  cavalry  was  passing  over  the 
[207] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

bridge  three  abreast,  and  a  lancer  accidentally 
knocked  over  a  bison's  head  that  was  hung  in  the 
court  as  a  hunting  trophy.  The  general  severely 
reprimanded  the  trooper  for  his  carelessness,  and 
ordered  the  cavalry  to  cross  two  abreast.  The 
conversation  continued.  Madame  Delbet  said  that 
she  thought  the  Russians  had  made  considerable 
progress  since  the  Japanese  war.  "  Ah,  yes,  per- 
haps, but  they  have  no  real  army  yet!  " 

The  general  then  remarked :  "  Now  about  the 
French.  You,  yourself,  Madame,  must  be  aware, 
as  you  belong  to  a  medical  family,  that  the  French 
are  absolutely  degenerate.  The  French  have  come 
to  the  end  of  their  tether!  I  will  let  you  into  one 
of  our  secrets.  This  will  be  our  ultimatum,  of  which 
I  have  already  read  the  text.  Voila!  We  have  de- 
cided to  preserve  a  selection  of  the  best  and  healthi- 
est Frenchmen  and  marry  them  to  well-chosen 
North  German  girls  of  strong  shape  and  build. 
The  result  of  this  cross  may  be  useful  children.  As 
to  the  other  Frenchmen  who  survive  the  war,  we 
have  arranged  to  export  them  all  to  North  and 
South  America!  " 

"  But,  General,"  replied  Madame  Delbet,  "  we 
have  had  at  least  some  success  during  the  war." 

[208] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

"  None  whatever,  Madame!  " 

"  Why!    We  have  captured  some  flags,  anyway!  " 

"  Where  did  you  see  that?  " 

"  In  the  newspapers." 

i(  The  French,  English,  and  American  newspapers 
publish  nothing  but  lies.  In  two  days  we  shall  be 
in  Paris." 

The  general  then  gave  a  fresh  turn  to  his  eyeglass 
and  called  Madame  Delbet's  attention  to  the  splen- 
did physique,  smart  appearance,  perfect  order, 
method,  and  discipline  of  his  troops.  Madame  Del- 
bet  admitted  that  this  praise  was  fully  justified,  for 
the  troops  and  horses  were  quite  fresh,  their  uni- 
forms and  equipments  were  all  spick  and  span,  and 
the  officers  even  wore  fresh,  unspotted  gloves. 

On  Sunday  the  general  took  his  departure.  As 
he  came  to  bid  Madame  Delbet  good-by,  he  said: 
"  I  am  going  to  Paris,  Madame,  and  if  I  can  be  of 
any  service  to  you  there,  kindly  let  me  know." 
He  then  mounted  his  beautiful  bay  charger  and  rode 
away,  followed  by  his  staff.  A  couple  of  officers 
and  a  small  detachment  were  left  in  the  village. 

Monday  morning  a  German  automobile  dashed 
through  the  village  at  fourth  speed.  A  sentry  dis- 
charged his  rifle  as  a  signal.  The  same  troops  came 

[209] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

trotting  back  again  over  the  three  bridges.  One  of 
them,  who  had  been  particularly  attentive  to  Ma- 
dame Delbet's  maid,  passed  through  the  little  court- 
yard. The  maid  slyly  asked:  "  Is  that  the  road  to 
Paris?  "  She  received  the  reply  from  her  admirer: 
"  Plus  Paris!  Plus  Paris!  " 

Soon  afterwards,  some  French  dragoons  galloped 
into  the  village  over  the  bridges  that  the  Germans 
had  had  no  time  to  destroy.  Then  came  two  bat- 
talions of  British  infantry,  at  a  double,  over  Ma- 
dame Delbet's  little  garden  bridge,  and  they  de- 
ployed and  opened  fire  on  the  retreating  Germans. 
"A  Paris!"  and  "Plus  Paris!"  are  words  that 
Madame  Delbet  says  will  always  ring  in  her  ears, 
for  these  phrases  exactly  describe  the  picturesque 
side  glimpse  of  the  war  that  passed  in  her  pretty 
little  courtyard,  lined  with  rose-bushes,  near  her 
rustic  wooden  bridge.  Professor  Pierre  Delbet 
vouches  for  the  implicit  accuracy  of  this  charac- 
teristic conversation  between  his  mother  and  the 
young  lieutenant-general  of  the  Prussian  Guard 
Corps. 


[210 


Saturday,  September  12. 

FORTY  -  FIRST  day  of  the  war.  Rain  and  drizzle 
with  southwesterly  wind.  Thermometer  at  five 
p.  M.  15  degrees  centigrade. 

Good  news.  Six  days'  steady,  hard  fighting  re- 
sults in  a  French  victory  all  along  the  line  of  the 
Marne.  The  German  retreat  is  general.  It  is 
astonishing  to  see  how  quietly  and  calmly  Parisians 
receive  the  welcome  news.  They  are  naturally 
delighted,  but  there  are  no  wild  outbursts  of  en- 
thusiasm. They  fully  realize  that  this  is  merely 
one  of  the  phases  of  the  long,  hard  struggle. 

Both  General-in-Chief  Joffre,  and  the  German 
General  Staff,  foresaw  that  the  great  battle  of  the 
Marne  must  be  decisive.  General  Joffre,  in  his 
order  of  the  day  of  September  6,  impressed  upon  his 
troops  that  "  upon  the  coming  battle  the  salvation 
of  the  country  would  depend  ",  and  admonished  his 
soldiers  that  "  if  they  should  be  unable  to  advance 
further,  they  must  hold  their  ground  or  be  killed  on 
the  spot,  rather  than  retire."  When  the  French 
cavalry  made  a  sudden  dash  into  Vitry-le-Frangois 

[211] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

and  entered  the  house  that  had  been  occupied  by 
the  headquarters  staff  of  the  Eighth  Army  Corps, 
which  had  been  hastily  abandoned  a  few  minutes 
before,  they  found,  signed  by  Lieutenant-general 
Tulff  von  Tscheppe  und  Werdenbach,  a  general 
order  which  ran  as  follows: 

Vitry-le-Frangois,  September  7,  10.30  A.  M.  —  The  goal 
pursued  by  our  long  and  painful  marches  is  reached. 
The  principal  French  forces  have  had  to  accept  battle 
after  withdrawing  continually.  The  great  decision  is  un- 
doubtedly near  at  hand.  To-morrow,  therefore,  the  total 
forces  of  the  German  army,  as  well  as  all  those  of  our 
army  corps,  will  have  to  be  engaged  all  along  the  line 
going  from  Paris  to  Verdun.  To  save  the  happiness  and 
honor  of  Germany,  I  expect  from  each  officer  and  soldier, 
despite  the  hard  and  heroic  fighting  of  the  last  few  days, 
that  he  will  accomplish  his  duty  entirely  and  to  his  last 
breath.  All  depends  upon  the  result  of  to-morrow's 
battle. 


[212] 


Sunday,  September  13. 

FORTY  -  SECOND  day  of  the  war.  Cloudy  weather, 
with  strong  westerly  wind.  Temperature  at  five 
p.  M.  19  degrees  centigrade. 

I  took  one  of  the  four  daily  trains  for  Havre, 
leaving  the  Gare  Saint-Lazare,  for  my  little  country 
place  in  Vernon  at  9.33  this  morning  and  met  in 
the  same  compartment  Captain  Decker,  com- 
mander of  the  U.  S.  S.  Tennessee,  and  two  officers 
of  his  ship,  which  acts  as  a  sort  of  ferry-boat  for 
Americans  stranded  in  France,  carrying  them  to 
England.  The  Tennessee  will  sail  from  Havre  to- 
morrow for  Falmouth.  The  United  States  naval 
officers  were  in  uniform  and  were  constantly  mis- 
taken for  British  army  officers.  The  military  com- 
manders at  the  stations  came  on  board  the  train  to 
ask  if  they  could  be  of  any  service  to  them,  and 
they  were  saluted  with  enthusiasm  whenever  they 
showed  themselves.  The  train,  conforming  to  the 
war  regulations  on  all  the  railroads,  went  at  the 
uniform  prescribed  pace  of  thirty  miles  an  hour  and 
stopped  at  every  station,  consequently  we  were  four 

[213] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

hours,  instead  of  the  usual  one  hour  and  ten  minutes 
in  getting  to  Vernon,  which  is  only  fifty  miles  from 
Paris.  At  Acheres,  the  junction  with  the  northern 
lines,  two  carloads  of  wounded  were  hitched  to  our 
train.  I  found  barricades  on  the  outskirts  of  Vernon 
and  the  beautiful  bridge,  that  had  been  blown  up 
by  the  French  in  1870  in  a  vain  attempt  to  prevent 
the  German  occupation,  was  mined,  so  that  it  could 
be  instantly  destroyed.  I  found  my  little  garden 
rather  neglected,  for  the  man  who  looks  after  it  had 
been  "  mobilized  "  and  is  now  lying  in  a  hospital  at 
Bordeaux,  getting  over  a  shrapnel  wound  in  the 
leg.  The  place  nevertheless  was  full  of  pears, 
peaches,  figs,  green  corn,  American  squashes,  beans, 
tomatoes,  and  no  end  of  roses,  gladioli,  tobacco 
plant,  hollyhocks,  heliotrope,  dahlias,  morning- 
glories,  verbena,  and  sunflowers. 

I  visited  the  Red  Cross  Hospital  which,  under  the 
direction  of  Madame  Steiner,  wife  of  the  mayor 
of  Vernon,  is  doing  splendid  work  at  Vernonnet. 
There  were  two  hundred  wounded  officers  and  sol- 
diers here;  among  them  were  a  dozen  Belgians 
and  a  score  of  "  Turcos  ",  Algerian  riflemen,  who 
seemed  very  patient  and  docile.  Some  twenty 
wounded  Germans  here  receive  exactly  the  same 

[214] 


OUVEHXKMKXT  MILITAIHK  I)K  PAULS 


PREFECTURE    DE    POLICE 


SAUF-CONDUI 


Signes  particuliers  apparents ; 

fr  A  >»  **7    ' 

Destination  pour  Jes  voyageurs  en^ckcmi 


Photo.  H.  C.  Ellis,  Paris. 

Sauf-Conduit "  issued  by  the  Prefecture  of  Police  to  persons 
wishing  to  travel. 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

treatment  as  the  French.  The  German  soldiers  were 
from  Prussian-Polish  and  Saxon  regiments.  The 
officers,  five  altogether,  in  a  separate  ward,  were 
extremely  reticent,  and  it  was  only  with  great  diffi- 
culty that  they  could  be  induced  to  give  their 
names  and  the  numbers  of  their  regiments.  Hap- 
pening to  speak  German,  I  acted  as  interpreter 
during  the  inspection  by  the  French  Medical  Di- 
rector. These  young  officers  seemed  greatly  de- 
pressed and  mortified  at  finding  themselves  pris- 
oners. 

While  strolling  about  Vernon,  I  met  Frederick 
MacMonnies,  the  American  sculptor,  and  his  wife, 
riding  on  bicycles.  They  had  come  from  Giverny, 
some  three  miles  away,  where  MacMonnies  has  his 
studio,  not  far  from  that  of  Claude  Monet.  Mac- 
Monnies told  me  that  his  studio  was  now  a  hos- 
pital with  fifty  beds,  all  of  which  were  occupied  by 
French  and  Belgians.  Mrs.  MacMonnies  aids  the 
surgeons  in  tending  the  wounded.  During  the  ap- 
proach of  the  Germans  towards  Beauvais,  it  was 
thought  that  Uhlans  would  soon  appear  at  Vernon, 
and  orders  had  been  given  to  evacuate  the  hospitals. 
MacMonnies  buried  his  valuable  tapestries  and 
rare  works  of  French  and  Italian  Renaissance  art  and 

[215] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

prepared  for  the  worst.  Fortunately  Vernon,  Gi- 
verny,  Paris,  and  its  delightful  neighborhood  seems 
no  longer  to  be  in  danger  from  invaders,  and  the 
people  are  recovering  their  peace  of  mind. 


[216] 


Monday,  September  14- 

FORTY  -  THIRD  day  of  the  war.  Dull  morning 
with  slight  showers.  Sky  overcast  all  the  afternoon. 
Southwesterly  wind  blowing  strong.  Thermometer 
at  five  P.  M.  16  degrees  centigrade. 

Back  in  Paris  again,  after  a  five  hours'  ride  in  a 
second-class  compartment  intended  for  ten,  packed 
with  twelve.  Most  of  my  fellow-passengers  were 
refugees  returning  to  Creil,  Beaumont-sur-Oise, 
and  other  places  north  of  Paris,  now  evacuated  by 
the  Germans. 

Within  living  memory  Paris  has  rarely  seen  so 
dense  and  vast  a  throng  as  that  which  assembled 
on  Sunday  in  the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame  for  the 
special  service  of  "  intercession  for  the  success  of 
French  arms  ",  when  Monseigneur  Amette,  Cardinal 
of  Paris,  preached  a  stirring  sermon,  exhorting 
people  to  "  make  extreme  sacrifice  for  their  native 
land."  There  must  have  been  eight  thousand  per- 
sons in  the  cathedral.  Not  only  were  the  five  naves 
densely  packed,  but  all  the  chapels  along  the  side 
aisles  were  crowded  with  worshippers.  An  im- 

[217] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

posing  procession  was  formed,  including  many  re- 
ligious bodies,  associations  of  young  girls,  and  all 
the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  of  Paris.  This  cortege 
left  the  cathedral  through  the  three  gates  of  the 
great  fagade  and  took  up  its  position  between  the 
basilica  and  the  exterior  railings.  Here  a  temporary 
platform  had  been  erected,  from  which  Monseigneur 
Amette  addressed  the  enormous  crowd  that  filled 
the  Rue  d'Argonne,  the  Pont  Notre  Dame,  and  the 
Place  Notre  Dame,  right  up  to  the  Prefecture  of 
Police.  After  the  Cardinal  had  pronounced  the 
benediction,  the  crowd  joined  with  impressive 
solemnity  in  the  invocation  of  Sainte-Genevieve, 
Saint-Denis,  Joan  of  Arc,  and  other  saints  on  behalf 
of  the  French  armies,  and  afterwards  dispersed 
quietly  and  reverently. 


218] 


Tuesday,  September  15. 

FORTY  -  FOURTH  day  of  the  war.  Gray,  cloudy 
day,  with  occasional  glimpses  of  sunshine.  Brisk 
southwest  wind.  Temperature  at  five  P.  M.  15  de- 
grees centigrade. 

The  Franco-British  armies  are  close  on  the  Ger- 
mans' heels,  but  as  everybody  in  Paris  expected, 
the  enemy  is  inclined  to  resist  along  their  new  lines. 
They  are  throwing  up  defences  on  the  northwest, 
from  the  forest  of  1'Aigle  to  Craonne,  and  in  the 
center  from  north  of  Rheims  and  the  Camp  of 
Chalons  to  Vienne-la-Ville  on  the  west  fringe  of  the 
Argonne. 

The  outlook  seems  so  encouraging  to  the  Herald 
that  it  has  returned  to  ante-bellum  conditions  and 
reduced  its  price  to  fifteen  centimes  in^France,  and 
twenty-five  centimes  abroad,  and  usually  appears 
in  double  sheet  form. 

Another  American  wedding  to-day  at  the  Town 

Hall  of  the  sixth  arrondissement.    The  bridegroom 

was  Mr.  John  R.  Clarke  of  New  York,  and  the 

bride   was   Miss  Marion  Virginia  Goode,  also  an 

J219] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

American.  Mr.  Clarke  went  to  the  front  imme- 
diately after  the  wedding,  having  volunteered  in 
the  British  army  for  automobile  service.  He  was 
arrayed  in  the  regulation  khaki  uniform,  and  as  he 
drove  to  the  Mairie  in  his  car  just  brought  back 
from  the  Aisne  with  a  number  of  bullet-holes  in  it, 
he  was  greeted  with  cheers.  The  bridal  party  was 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Charles  G.  Loeb,  of  the  Ameri- 
can law  firm  of  Valois,  Loeb  and  Company. 

The  American  Ambulance  Hospital  at  Neuilly  is 
doing  really  effective  work.  Among  the  wounded 
being  treated  there  are  French,  Belgians,  a  few 
'  Turcos ",  British  officers  and  men,  and  some 
wounded  German  prisoners.  Mrs.  William  K.  Van- 
derbilt,  who  has  been  entrusted  by  the  French  Red 
Cross  Association  with  the  charge  of  the  hospital, 
is  indefatigable  hi  her  personal  attention  and  ef- 
forts. The  organization  seems  perfect.  The  funds  so 
far  subscribed  exceed  five  hundred  and  seventy -four 
thousand  francs.  During  a  brief  visit  to  the  hospital, 
I  noticed  that  Mrs.  Vanderbilt  herself  visited  the 
wounded,  and  with  the  aid  of  her  experienced  staff 
of  trained  nurses,  prepared  them  for  surgical  opera- 
tions. Mrs.  Vanderbilt  wore  the  white  Red  Cross 
uniform.  Half  concealed  about  her  neck  was  a 

[220] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

double  string  of  pearls.  Rose-colored  silk  stockings 
were  tipped  with  neat  but  serviceable  white  shoes, 
and  in  this  attire  she  seemed  to  impersonate  the 
presiding  "  good  angel  "  of  the  hospital. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  a  friend  who  was  going 
to  Meaux  in  charge  of  a  Red  Cross  automobile  to 
distribute  hospital  stores  to  a  field  hospital  near 
Plessis-Pacy,  I  had  an  opportunity  to  visit  the  scene 
of  the  recent  battles  along  the  Ourcq  Canal,  where 
General  von  Kluck's  army  met  its  first  signal  de- 
feat. We  came  near  to  the  villages  of  Chambry, 
Marcilly,  Etrepilly,  and  Vincy  —  along  the  road 
from  Meaux  to  Soissons  —  and  found  that  the 
trenches  dug  by  the  Germans  were  filled  with 
human  corpses  in  thick,  serried  masses.  Quicklime 
and  straw  had  been  thrown  over  them  by  the  ton. 
Piles  of  bodies  of  men  and  of  horses  had  been  par- 
tially cremated  in  the  most  rudimentary  fashion. 
The  country  seemed  to  be  one  endless  charnel- 
house.  The  stench  of  the  dead  was  appalling.  Of 
the  fifty  odd  houses  that  form  the  village  of  Etre- 
pilly, not  one  remained  intact.  Some  of  them  had 
been  hit  by  a  shell  that  penetrated  through  the 
roof,  falling  into  the  cellar,  and  by  its  explosion 
bringing  down  from  garret  or  second  story  all  the 

[01] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

furniture  in  one  confused  mass  of  ruin.  But  many 
other  houses  had  been  simply  sacked  and  looted. 
Cupboards,  chests  of  drawers,  and  wardrobes  were 
smashed  open,  and  their  contents  scattered  pell- 
mell  in  the  streets,  courtyards,  and  fields.  Here 
was  the  portrait  of  an  ancestor  ripped  to  shreds  by 
a  bayonet;  there  was  a  child's  cradle.  An  old- 
fashioned  grandmother's  armchair,  with  its  cush- 
ions and  ear-laps,  lay  smashed  in  fragments  in  the 
gutter.  The  village  had  fortunately  been  deserted 
by  its  inhabitants  at  the  approach  of  the  Germans, 
who,  furious  with  rage,  had  looted,  sacked,  or 
wantonly  destroyed  whatever  they  found. 

How  thirsty  the  Germans  were!  The  roads  and 
fields  and  trenches  were  strewn  with  bottles,  full  or 
half -empty.  The  Germans  must  have  been  obliged 
to  retreat  suddenly,  for  heaps  of  unexploded  shells 
for  the  three-inch  and  five-inch  German  field-guns 
were  abandoned,  and  in  wicker  baskets  wererloads  of 
three-inch  unexploded  shells,  apparently  about  to 
be  served  to  the  gunners.  Wanton,  ruthless  devas- 
tation everywhere!  In  a  field  was  a  wrecked  aero- 
plane, a  white  and  yellow  taube,  with  its  right  wing 
reaching  into  the  air,  looking  like  some  gigantic, 
wounded  bird.  Towards  sunset,  an  automobile 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

passed  along  the  road  through  this  terrible  desolate 
valley  of  death.  In  it  sat  Monseigneur  Marbeau,  the 
venerable  Bishop  of  Meaux  —  the  successor  of  Bos- 
suet,  the  famous  "  Eagle  of  Meaux  "  —  who  now 
and  then  raised  his  right  finger  aloft  and  then  low- 
ered it  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  as  he  pronounced 
benedictions  on  this  vast  charnel-house.  A  great 
number  of  German  killed  and  wounded  wearing 
uniforms  of  the  Eleventh  Prussian  Infantry  Regi- 
ment indicated  that  this  corps  had  occupied  the 
village  of  Etrepilly.  As  there  were  no  civilian  vil- 
lagers noticed  in  this  part  of  the  country,  this  seems 
presumptive  evidence  that  the  Eleventh  Prussian 
Infantry  participated  in  this  looting  and  wanton 
devastation. 

As  we  were  about  to  return  to  Paris,  we  met  a 
friend  of  M.  Gaston  Menier  on  his  way  from  the 
latter's  country-house  near  Villers- Cotter  ets,  where 
the  memorable  chasses  a  courre  take  place  in  the 
forest,  which,  under  normal  conditions,  abounds  in 
deer  and  stags.  The  chateau  had  been  used  as  the 
headquarters  of  a  brigade  of  Bavarian  infantry. 
The  house  was  intact,  but  some  valuable  furniture 
of  the  Louis  XV  period  and  some  paintings  had 
been  destroyed,  and  the  cellar,  that  had  contained 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

over  two  thousand  bottles  of  excellent  wine,  in- 
cluding forty  dozen  bottles  of  champagne  of  the 
admirable  vintage  of  1904,  had  been  "  visited ", 
and  only  seven  bottles  remained.  The  Bavarians, 
in  pursuance  of  their  practice  in  1870,  carried  away 
all  the  clocks  in  the  cMteau. 


Wednesday,  September  16. 

FORTY  -  FIFTH  day  of  the  war.  Sky  heavily  over- 
cast. Southwesterly  wind.  Thermometer  at  five 
p.  M.  15  degrees  centigrade. 

After  the  victorious  contest  of  the  Marne,  we  are 
now  to  have  the  gigantic  struggle  of  the  Aisne. 
The  battle  now  engaged,  because  the  Franco-British 
pursuit  has  compelled  the  German  armies  all  along 
the  line  to  reenforce  their  rear  guards  and  fight, 
extends  some  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  length 
on  one  front  from  Noyon,  the  heights  north  of  Vic- 
sur-Aisne,  Soissons,  Rheims,  to  Ville-sur-Tourbe, 
west  of  the  wooded  ridge  of  the  Argonne.  Another 
"front",  where  vigorous  defence  is  made  by  the 
German  eastern  armies,  extends  from  the  eastern 
border  of  the  Argonne  to  the  Forges  forest  north 
of  Verdun,  some  fifty  miles  long. 

Now  that  the  Germans  are  fighting  on  the  defen- 
sive, it  is  not  too  soon  to  record  the  fact  that  their 
extraordinary  raid  of  a  million  of  soldiers  through 
Belgium  to  within  twenty  miles  of  Paris  has  failed. 
Nothing  in  military  history  approaches  this  ava- 

[225] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

lanche  of  armies.  The  German  invasion  of  France 
and  the  threat  to  invest  and  capture  Paris  is  coming 
to  an  end.  Yet  this  war  can  only  be  ended  by  an 
invasion  either  of  France  or  of  Germany  being 
driven  to  a  triumphant  conclusion.  The  theater 
of  war  must  soon  be  transferred  from  France  to 
the  east.  The  curtain  falls  upon  the  German  inva- 
sion of  France,  and  for  the  present,  at  least,  Paris 
is  no  longer  in  danger.  I  see  that  a  change  has 
come  over  the  Parisians,  and  I  can  read  in  their 
calm,  confident  faces  the  brighter  phase  that  the 
war  has  assumed.  Parisians  of  every  class,  from 
the  grande  dame  of  the  Faubourg  Saint-Germain  to 
the  midinette  of  the  Rue  de  la  Paix,  or  the  profes- 
sional beauty  of  Montmartre,  are  subdued  and 
chastened  by  the  sudden  change  that  overtook  their 
bright  and  exuberant  existence.  During  this  first 
period  of  the  war,  Paris  assumed  the  aspect  of  a 
Scottish  Sabbath.  Feverish  pursuit  of  pleasure, 
earnest  hard  work,  luxury,  elegant  distinction, 
thrift,  thronged  boulevards,  crowded  theaters,  clam- 
orous music  halls,  frisky  supper  parties,  tango  teas, 
overflowing  gaiety,  sparkling  wit,  boisterous  fun, 
and  sly  humor,  have  all  vanished.  The  machinery 
of  Parisian  life  is  working  at  quarter  speed.  Streets 

[226] 


PARIS  WAR  DAYS 

are  nearly  deserted,  except  for  rapidly  flitting  auto- 
mobiles, used  mostly  for  military  purposes.  The 
Rue  de  la  Paix  is  a  vacant  pathway,  where  one 
might  play  lawn  tennis  all  day  long.  Probably 
three  fourths  of  the  Paris  shops  are  still  closed. 
The  underground  trams  are  as  yet  few  and  far  be- 
tween. Now  and  then  a  tramway  rumbles  along 
the  streets,  but  there  is  not  a  solitary  omnibus  run- 
ning in  the  city.  The  popularity  of  the  bicycle  is 
regained,  for  well-to-do  folk  whose  motor-cars  have 
been  requisitioned  now  make  use  of  the  humble 
wheel.  The  quaint,  one-horse  cab,  evoking  sou- 
venirs of  Murger,  Paul  de  Kock,  and  Guy  de  Mau- 
passant, with  venerable  cocker,  re-appears.  There 
are  some  auto-taxicabs  about,  and  their  slowly  in- 
creasing number  indicates  that  Paris  is  beginning 
to  shake  off  the  paralysis  imposed  by  the  outbreak 
of  the  war.  Undisturbed  by  the  turmoil,  the  forty 
"  immortal "  Academicians  are  continuing  their 
labors  on  the  Dictionary  of  the  Academy.  They  are 
approaching  the  end  of  the  letter  "  E  "  and  are 
to-day  discussing,  with  singular  actuality,  the  word 
"  Exodus."  May  that  mean  the  German  exodus 
from  French  soil! 

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